The State Duma Adopted the Project of the Federal Law «About Microfinance Performance and Microfinance Organizations» in Three Readings.
On May 14, 2010 at the Russian Federation State Duma plenary session the project of the federal law «About microfinance performance and microfinance organizations» was adopted by general consent in the first reading. reading (the daft law was also considered in the second reading, and adopted in the third reading on June 18).
The future law is aimed not only to strengthen the peculiar features of legal position of non-cooperative microfinance organizations, but also the principles and restrictions of their activity in order to lower the financial risks, and protection of clients' rights. The draft law, actually, must bring in one united legal environment the activity of all microfinance organizations which do not have, in contrast to banks or credit cooperatives, special rules of managing this activity.
The draft law is developed by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation with the cooperation of the National Partnership of Microfinance Market Stakeholders (NAMMS) and supported by the Committee on Financial Market of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Such cooperation helped to adjust both the public interests of state and society, and the issues of protection of the consumers, and also the interests of further development of microfinance organizations.
The draft law «About modifying separate legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the Federal law "About microfinance performance and microfinance organizations" going in sequence with the draft law «About microfinance performance and microfinance organizations» was also adopted in the first reading. It contemplates (in the context of including the microfinance organizations in the list of organizations, performing operations with monetary means or other property) the elaboration of separate provisions of the Federal law of August 7, 2001 No 115-FL "Against legalization of proceeds from crime (money-laundering) and against terrorism funding". Among that, the draft law is aimed to include the microfinance organizations despite their legal organizational form in the infrastructure providing support for the subjects of small and medium entrepreneurship. For this purpose it contemplates necessary modifications to the Federal law No 209-FL "About the small and medium entrepreneurship development in the Russian Federation" of July 24, 2007.
We invite all participants of microfinance performance and all interested persons to express their opinion on the draft law project, to give their proposals on its further improvement. Please, send your thoughts to RMC Senior Legal Adviser Anna Baitenova at: abaitenova@rmcenter.ru.
