Prospects of Legal Regulation of Partnership Financing in Russia

Organizing partners: Bank of Russia; Office of the State Duma of the Russian Federation; Office of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation

Venue: International Exhibition Centre Kazan Expo, Kazan

Time: May 19, 2023, 14:40–16:00

Moderator: Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market

Speakers:

Nikolay Zhuravlev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council;

Airat Farrakhov, member of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes;

Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia;

Alexey Simanovskiy, Adviser to the Governor of the Bank of Russia;

Madina Davletbaeva, Advisor to the Chairman of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan;

Tarik Akin, Head of the Department of Participation Finance at Finance Office, Presidency of Turkey.

Speaking about the prospects of partnership financing, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Nikolay Zhuravlev noted that at present special attention is paid to attracting capital from friendly countries. “Islamic finance has carved out as a full-fledged independent segment of the global financial market; more than 500 Islamic banking and financial organizations with over $2 trillion total assets operate in 105 countries.”

A landmark event took place in 2022 – a draft federal law “On the Experiment to Establish Special Regulation to Create the Necessary Conditions for the Implementation of Partnership Financing in Individual Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation” supported by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Bank of Russia was submitted to the State Duma. Following the experiment, a decision will be made on the development of full-scale legal regulation of this type of business.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov noted that the estimated potential of the Islamic finance market in Russia is $ 11 billion, and it shall be developed. He is sure that the law on Islamic banking will be adopted in Russia in June. It is planned to launch the pilot project intended for a 2-year period in 4 regions of the country: Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Chechnya and Dagestan.

Member of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes Airat Farrakhov suggested that the pilot project can be finished earlier: “When the self-employment regime was introduced, the law was adopted for an 8-year period. It is currently in active use in all regions, although originally the pilot regime was launched in Moscow, the Moscow Region and Tatarstan. Therefore, 2 years in the case of Islamic banking is the latest possible date.”

First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Vladimir Chistyukhin talked about the prospects of partnership financing for Russia, having emphasized that now is the right time to tune up all nuances.

Adviser to the Governor of the Bank of Russia Alexey Simanovskiy expressed his opinion on the adoption of the law on Islamic finance. He told about the risks and risk re-evaluation in the context of its adoption.

Advisor to the Chairman of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan Madina Davletbaeva told about the changes in Kyrgyz legislation and the pitfalls in the course of Islamic banking adaptation to local laws. In Kyrgyzstan, this process continued from 2016 to 2021. Since 2022, a new stage in the IPF development has begun.

Tarik Akin, Head of the Department of Participation Finance at Finance Office, Presidency of Turkey, shared recommendations based on the practice of the Republic of Turkey. He mentioned the foundation pillars of partnership financing, and spoke about the regulatory framework of Turkey and Malaysia.