Monitoring of the Federal Legislation dated 24.10.2006

Instruction of the Central Bank of Russia No. 28-I of September 14, 2006 on the Opening and Closing of Bank Accounts, Deposit Accounts

Endorses the Instruction specifying the procedure of opening and closing in the Russian Federation by credit organisations (branches), divisions of the payment network of the Bank of Russia of bank accounts, deposit accounts of legal entities, natural persons, independent entrepreneurs, as well as natural persons engaged in private practice in the currency of the Russian Federation and foreign currencies.

The Instruction does not apply to the procedure of opening and closing of accounts of candidates for elected positions, accounts of deposits of servicemen opened in the field institutions of the Bank of Russia, as well as accounts opened for reasons other than the bank account (deposit) contract.

The grounds to open a bank account, deposit account is conclusion of an appropriate contract and submission of all specified documents. The client may be refused to open an account if the documents are not submitted to confirm information necessary for identification of the client or incorrect information is presented, as well as in other cases envisaged in the legislation. When opening the account, the bank officials identify the client, as well as check the presence of legal capacities with the client.

The account is considered to be opened from the moment of entry of the record in the ledger of opened accounts. It is entered no later than the working day following the day of conclusion of the appropriate contract.

To open an account, the originals of the documents or their copies are presented to the bank. The copies of the documents certified by the client legal entity are presented on condition that the bank verifies their compliance with the original. The given copies must contain the signature of the person having certified the copy of the document, his full name and position, as well as the client seal (stamp). The Instruction defines the procedure of suspension of certifying signatures by the bank officials.

The banks shall open in the currency of the Russian Federation and foreign currencies: current accounts; payment accounts, budget accounts; correspondent accounts, correspondent subaccounts; trust control accounts; special bank accounts; deposit accounts of the courts, divisions of the bailiff service, law enforcement bodies, notaries; deposit accounts.

The Instruction specifies the list of the documents presented to the bank to open each of the listed accounts, as well as regulates the procedure of drawing up of the card with the specimens of the signature and seal.

The grounds to close the account is the termination of the bank account contract. When the contract is terminated, the residue on the account is handed out to the client or transferred against his direction by the bank’s payment order before expiry of the seven day time limits after receiving an appropriate written application of the client. Other turn-in and issue operations on the client account are not carried out.

A legal file is generated for each client account by the bank.

The Instruction specifies the list of issues that may be regulated by the internal document of the credit organisation – bank rules.

Specifies the form of the card with the specimens of signatures and the seal and its filling procedure to be applied from the day of entry into force of the Instruction. The redrawing of the cards presented to the bank before the entry into force of the Instruction is not necessary.

The Instruction invalidates from the day of its entry into force the Direction of the Bank of Russia No. 1297-U of June 21, 2003 having defined the procedure of drawing up of the mentioned card earlier.

The banks shall work out and endorse the internal documents envisaged in the Instruction within four months form the day of its entry into force.

The Instruction shall enter into force thirty days after the day of its publication in the Herald of the Bank of Russia.

Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on October 18, 2006. Reg. No. 8388.

Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation No. 299 of September 29, 2006 on the Amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia No. 163 of September 5, 2005

According to the amendments to the procedure of carrying out of auctions of sale of industrial quotas of production (catch) of aquatic biological resources and the shares in the total volume of production (catch) of aquatic biological resources for the purpose of industrial fishing, the auctions, beside earlier envisaged quotas, may include also the shares in the total volume of quotas of production (catch) of aquatic biological resources for the purpose of industrial fishing transferred from one person to another.

Amendments are introduced defining the procedure of sale of transferred shares.

The grounds to carry out the auction to sell the transferred share is the written application submitted to the commission with attached contract for the share in the total volume of quotas certified appropriately and the certificate of the consumption by the holder of the share of quotas of production (catch) of aquatic biological resources of at least 50% of his fixed quota for the previous two years (except for the industrial quotas for the purpose of coastal fishing) handed out by the authorised body according to established procedure.

The holder of the share may revoke the submitted request.

When selling transferred shares, first, a closed auction is arranged for the applicants registered in the same subject of the Russian Federation as the holder of the share put forward for the auction. If the initial auction is recognised to have failed, a repeated open auction is arranged (except for the auction of sale of shares for the purpose of coastal fishing) where applicants registered in the Russian Federation may participate. At the proposal of the body of executive power of the subject of the Russian Federation, initial auctions may be arranged on the territory of the appropriate region.

The contract of transfer of the share is concluded between the holder of the share and the auction winner in a simple written form. A sample application for the sale of transferred share is provided.

The notification of the carried out auction is published (beside the Rossiyskaya Gazeta) in the newspaper Rybatskiye Novosti.

Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on October 17, 2006. Reg. No. 8386.

Order of the Federal Tax Service No. SAE-3-19/654@ of October 4, 2006 on the Endorsement of the Procedure of Processing by the Federal Tax Service of Applications for the Respite, Extension Schedule, Investment Tax Credit to Pay the Taxes and Fees

Instead of the procedure earlier endorsed by the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. SAE-3-19/329@ of July 15, 2005, endorses a new procedure regulating the procedure of organisation of internal agency work of the tax bodies to process applications for respites, extension schedules, investment tax credits.

The working out of the new procedure is stipulated by the changing from January 1, 2007 of the procedure of providing respites, (extension schedules) for the payment of taxes and fees according to the Federal Law No. 137-FZ of July 27, 2006.

Taxpayer applications received in the Federal Tax Service of Russia requesting to change the time limits of payment of the federal taxes and fees in the form of a respite, extension schedule, investment tax credit shall be sent for processing to the Department of Regulation of Debts and Bankruptcy Proceedings of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, which, in turn, sends draft decisions after processing to the Legal Department.

The draft decisions to change the time limits of payment of the uniform social tax are sent for coordination to the bodies of appropriate extra-budgetary funds, to change the time limits of payment of the federal taxes and fees due to the federal budget and/or budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation, local budgets – to the fiscal bodies of appropriate subjects of the Russian Federation, municipal formations.

Applications to change the time limits of payment of the regional and local taxes received in the department of the Federal Tax Service of Russia at the place of location (residence) of the interested person shall be sent for processing to the Section of Regulation of Debts and Bankruptcy Proceedings, also followed by further sending for coordination to the Legal Department. Draft decisions must be coordinated in the fiscal bodies of the appropriate subject of the Russian Federation or municipal formation. Having received the coordinated draft decisions, the Legal Department shall send them for endorsement to the head of the department, after which sends appropriate draft decisions for coordination to the Department of Regulation of Debts and Bankruptcy Proceedings of the Federal Tax Service of Russia.

Information of the adopted decision (positive or negative) shall be sent to the interested person and to the tax body at the place of registration of this person.

The total time limit of processing and decision taking must not be greater than one month after the day of receiving of the taxpayer application.

The Order also regulates the procedure of control of execution by taxpayers of decisions taken by the bodies of the Federal Tax Service of Russia and concluded contracts.

The Order is entered into force from January 1, 2007.