Draft amendments to protect investors have been submitted to the State Duma – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

According to the draft, the agreement for an unqualified investor would allow the broker to take advantage of the client’s money and securities only if the investor receives a positive test result. The list of available financial instruments will include bonds secured by monetary rights. An exception will be made for bonds and mortgage-backed securities issued by a company specializing in project finance, the shares of which are wholly owned by the Russian Federation, VEB or JSC Dom.RF.

An investor who has not made such transactions within five years of receiving a positive test result or making the last transaction requiring testing will be required to undergo retesting.

The “right to the last word” increases from 100 thousand to 300 thousand rubles – the threshold at which an unqualified investor can carry out a transaction requiring proof, even if the result is negative. The broker or management company will still be obliged to notify the investor of the risks and the need for the client to declare acceptance of it.

In addition, the Central Bank will have the authority to establish requirements for documents confirming the availability of property necessary to recognize an investor as qualified. The developers are convinced that such a measure will help reduce unfair practices in granting such status.

An independent criterion for obtaining qualified status will be the possession of an academic degree. Another new criterion is the level of income, the requirements of which will be specified by the Central Bank. The education criterion will be combined with the criteria of work experience, transaction experience and the ownership criterion, and the ownership criterion will be combined with confirmation by the broker or management company that the investor has the necessary knowledge.