Bypassing sanctions: The Bank of Israel and the Treasury will formulate a procedure for transferring funds from Russia

by time news

The Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance will formulate a banking procedure that will regulate the transfer of funds from Russia to Israeli citizens. This was agreed at a meeting held last night at the Ministry of Finance with the participation of the heads of the banking system, representatives of the Bank of Israel, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and MKs from Yisrael Beiteinu.

It was clarified at the hearing that there is no intention to allow the transfer of funds from entities on which the West has imposed direct sanctions and that the final model to be determined will be presented to the international sanctions mechanism and will receive its approval. Calcalist has learned that it has been agreed that the Supervisor of Banks, Yair Avidan, and the Deputy Budget Commissioner, Itai Tamkin, will work together to formulate a uniform procedure for transferring funds from Russia.

In the background of the discussion are three different population groups. The first group is about 56,000 veteran immigrants from Russia who receive monthly allowances from Russia in the amount of NIS 300-600. The funds of this group go through a government-controlled Russian bank that has sanctions on it, so it is necessary to explain the humanitarian need for the international sanctions mechanisms and get their approval.

The second group is the new immigrants from Russia. Since the outbreak of the war, about 30,000 people have immigrated, and there are another 20,000 who will immigrate to Israel. These immigrants must transfer money from Russia in order to start their lives anew in the country. The third group are businessmen who have closed their businesses in Russia and are interested in returning the money to the country.

The banks in Israel, which have been burned in the past due to non-compliance with international regulation, have chosen to go safe and have avoided accepting funds originating in Russia as much as possible, even if the sanctions do not limit this point transfer. The Bank of Israel also left the power in the hands of the banks and said “the banking corporations must establish policies and procedures regarding the manner in which international sanctions lists and national sanctions lists of foreign countries will be used.”

The ambition is that the new procedure will lead to a uniform and transparent policy, and in any case also to a policy that will be better received in the eyes of international bodies.

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