Foreign trade contracts that use digital rights for settlements must be registered with authorized banks, according to Russia’s Central Bank regulation. These rules currently apply to traditional payments.
There are several types of digital rights. Some are digital financial assets, which are digital equivalents of shares, bonds, and other securities. For example, one company issues digital financial assets with a certain par value. Another company purchases these assets and decides to use them for settlements in an international transaction. By law, banks must process this payment based on the provided digital financial assets, but this is still a new concept.
To operate successfully internationally, digital financial assets need to be recognized not only within the Russian Federation but also in the jurisdiction of the foreign counterparty. Furthermore, all digital financial asset operators undergo a licensing procedure in Russia and are included in a special registry. Parties to the transaction must also be registered on the platform of the operator issuing the digital financial assets. Currently, this Russia’s Central Bank decision appears to be one of the stages in preparation for the possibility of settlements using this instrument.
Contracts will need to be registered:
from 3 million rubles for imports;
from 10 million rubles for exports.
Russian residents will be required to submit information about transactions involving digital rights. This information will include the unique contract number, the type of digital right, and the number of assets transferred. The new rules had come into effect on January 11, 2025.
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