Some Russian public officials have to disclose their crypto holdings,
while other officials are obliged to hold zero crypto by April 1,
according to a new law.
Russia adopted its cryptocurrency law
in January, but this legislation does not provide a direct answer to
some questions, including how local officials should deal with their
crypto holdings. There are at least two other legal initiatives
requiring Russian public officials to declare or even get rid of their
cryptocurrency holdings entirely in 2021.
On Dec. 10, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed
a decree obliging some public officials to disclose their crypto
holdings by June 30. The decree was adopted as part of the country’s law
“On Digital Financial Assets,” or DFA, which was made effective on Jan.
1.
According to the decree, Russian officials or individuals
seeking to hold public office must disclose their digital assets, as
well as those of their spouse and children. The legislation refers to a
general scope of the official establishment, seeking to ensure that the
government is as compliant with the local financial declaration rules as ordinary citizens already are.
But
there is also another regulation that prohibits certain Russian
officials from owning any cryptocurrency, in line with the country’s
anti-corruption measures. On Dec. 28, 2020, the Russian Ministry of
Labour and Social Protection published
an informational letter reminding some officials that they are
obligated to liquidate their digital financial assets and any digital
currencies by April 1, regardless of the country of issuance.
This
restriction specifically refers to individuals listed in Part 1 of
Article 2 of the Russian Federal Law from May 7, 2013 No. 79-FL, which
prohibits certain categories of persons to store their funds abroad as
well as use foreign financial instruments. The list includes
a broad number of key public positions, including running and deputy
positions in public office, the board of directors of the Russian
central bank, public corporations owned by the Russian Federation, heads
of district administrations and several others.
In the letter,
the ministry mentioned that other categories of public officials are not
subject to these restrictions, though they still need to disclose their
digital assets in line with a decree signed by Putin.
While
Russian authorities keep introducing new crypto-related rules for public
officials, it’s not immediately clear how they will monitor compliance
from a technological standpoint. Artem Grigoriev, head of the research
lab at the Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain, told
Cointelegraph:
“There is still no law on the circulation
of cryptocurrency. The authors of this initiative probably have their
own vision about the implementation of these rules. Practice will show.”
Maria
Stankevich, a member of the Russian Committee on Blockchain
Technologies and Cryptoeconomics, also questioned the technological and
legal feasibility of implementing the rules:
“The
restrictions for the certain groups of the establishment for possessing
the digital currency is actually a logical step in the attempts to stop
corruption. [...] This is a clear signal for all the officials that the
government now has another lever to show its power when needed. However,
the main question is how they will monitor it, as there is no such law
or process.”
source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/some-russian-officials-are-being-forced-to-sell-their-crypto-by-april-2021
