Russian banks are asking corporate clients to justify USDT purchases and counterparties

Some large Russian banks have started asking corporate clients to explain the economic purpose of crypto and stablecoin transactions, including USDT, and to identify the counterparties behind them. For PSPs and high-risk merchants, the important bit is not the headline noise — it is that bank scrutiny is getting more specific, and it is arriving before the full legal and regulatory framework is even in place.

1. According to RBC, the requests have become more frequent after the adoption of a law regulating Russia’s crypto market. The publication cited two sources in the banking market and one source in the crypto exchange market, and said information about tighter checks was also confirmed by one bank.
2. Crypto expert Viktor Pershikov said several banks that service foreign trade activity (VЭD) sent such requests to clients over the past few days. RBC also reported that some of the additional information requests were sent to companies that are not participants in the experimental legal regime (EPR), which allows a limited number of legal entities to use digital currencies in settlement of foreign trade contracts.
3. One banking-market source told RBC that at least two banks serving foreign trade activity sent these requests. Sovcombank told RBC that it has clients who have partially clarified such information.
4. Three sources told RBC that, beyond the usual anti-money-laundering questions under Federal Law 115-FZ, banks are asking for an explanation of the economic purpose of buying USDT and require clients to confirm that the counterparty that provided the cryptocurrency is included in the Bank of Russia’s register of the digital currency exchange operator and complies with internal controls for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT).
5. Here is the catch: RBC noted that the core provisions of the law take effect only in September, the Bank of Russia has not yet finished issuing the subordinate regulations, and the register has not been formed. The law also provides for a transition period for existing market participants. White Stone lawyer Elizaveta Lobutseva told RBC that banks’ demand to confirm a counterparty’s presence in the Bank of Russia register and its compliance with internal AML/CFT rules is somewhat ahead of the legislation.

RBC also said the checks intensified after the adoption of the law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights.” It will enter into force on 1 September this year. From 1 July 2027, a mechanism will start under which banks must refuse transfers to resident payers if they suspect the recipient is organizing digital currency circulation without the required status. But if the transaction is under a foreign trade contract, the bank is not required to refuse the transfer — which explains why banks are asking where the crypto came from and who the counterparty actually is.