The Bank of Russia put pressure on Russian brokers in order to oust the foreign currency of "unfriendly countries" from the Russian financial system. This is reported by Vedomosti with reference to market participants and representatives of the regulator.
Following the introduction in June-July of commissions on foreign currency bank accounts, Russian brokers began to introduce similar measures. The publication claims that this happened, among other things, under pressure from the Bank of Russia, which formally (by letters) and informally (by calls) tried to convince brokers to introduce commissions in order to force clients to get rid of the currencies of "unfriendly" countries.
The Bank of Russia, in its persuasion, insisted on the sanctions risks of using dollars, euros and pounds in trading on the stock exchange. About direct calls to representatives of brokers, the publication was told in one brokerage organization, this information was confirmed by a source close to the Central Bank, several more brokers confirmed the fact of receiving letters. Market representatives argue that the introduction of commissions on currency positions is inevitable, due to possible sanctions against the National Clearing Center (NCC, part of the Moscow Exchange group, through which all currency transactions pass).
Representatives of the regulator confirmed to the publication that they had communicated with brokers about the sanctions risks of further placement of foreign currency on accounts, but they denied that the Central Bank demanded the introduction of commissions. The representative of the Central Bank explained that the regulator did not insist on this option, but only urged to reduce foreign exchange positions. This is not the first time the regulator has resorted to dialing: in March, the Central Bank called banks to sharply increase deposit rates.