13 February 2008, 12:38
The Bill (Reg. No.2029) provides the backbone for the area of Currency Exchange Regulation and Currency Control, says its Sponsor, the People´s Deputy, S. Arzhevitin. It contains provisions relating to Currency Exchange Regulation, the return of Foreign and Ukrainian currency by residents, the sale of a part of currency income, and provision of the Currency Control.
It includes definitions of currency valuables, currency transactions, currency receipts, ownership rights for currency valuables, etc. Transactions involving Ukrainian currency, and securities nominated in Ukrainian currency, provided that they are effected by non-residents, are included in the list of currency transactions.
The Bill envisages that The National Bank of Ukraine, being the Currency Exchange Regulation central body, establishes the open currency standards for authorized banks and financial institutions, allowing for the further liberalization of currency legislation.
The Bill imposes limits on the normal size of penalties for residents who fail to provide timely settlements for export/import operations. It states that the size of fine imposed cannot exceed the amount of unreceived currency receipts (the value of undelivered goods).
The levels of fines imposed on the authorized banks shall also be decreased, ‘due to the fact that the current liability level is not commensurate with violations, since the fine for such violations is well above the income the bank receives from the effected transaction and the bank´s own assets at its disposal at this time, thus creating a real threat to the liquidity thereof´, as the Sponsor of the Bill explains.
With a view to securing the economic security of the country, and being guided by the consistency principle of currency market liberalization, S. Arzhevitin suggests ‘preservation of the minimally required authorities of the Currency Exchange Regulation and Control bodies, to prevent an abrupt flow-out of short-term capital, resulting in excessive pressure on exchange rates and destabilization of the currency market´.