Russian banks start asking corporate clients about USDT transactions ahead of September crypto rules

Banks that serve importers and exporters in Russia have begun asking clients to explain transactions involving cryptocurrencies, including USDT. For high-risk payment flows, the practical point is simple: banks are trying to identify crypto-related counterparties before the new control regime starts on 1 September.

1. According to two sources in the banking market and the crypto exchange market cited by RBC, banks are asking legal entities to disclose the economic purpose of buying USDT stablecoins and to confirm that the counterparty that provided the crypto is listed in the Central Bank’s register of digital currency exchange operators.
2. The catch is that this register does not yet exist. The law setting the rules for crypto monitoring takes effect on 1 September, and the regulator is still building the subordinate regulations, so the requirement banks are imposing is, in practice, impossible to satisfy at the moment.
3. Lawyer Elizaveta Lobuteva of White Stone told RBC that these requests should not be treated as a new mandatory rule for foreign trade participants. In her view, they are a mix of standard compliance checks and preparation for future state regulation.
4. Sergey Yudakov, author of the Telegram channel “The Very Same 115-FZ,” said banks are trying to clear their client base in advance, expecting that a significant share of current crypto exchanges will not be able to obtain a license and will move into the grey zone, disguising crypto sales as other services.
5. Only Sovcombank confirmed to RBC that it had “partially clarified similar information from a number of clients.” At the same time, compliance director Marina Burdonova said that before the crypto law comes into force, the absence of a counterparty from the register cannot be used as grounds to refuse a transaction.

On 4 August, President Vladimir Putin signed the law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” which sets state control rules for crypto circulation. From autumn, Russia is supposed to have stricter requirements for investors, exchanges, exchangers, and digital custodians, along with licenses for crypto operations.