The Act appoints the Bank of Russia responsible for accreditation of rating agencies. Its authority comprises keeping of the rating agencies’ register, audits, improvement notices and other enforcement action. The law does not ban non-accredited rating agencies in Russia, but only ratings assigned by accredited rating agencies can be quoted in the Russian laws.

The Act sets the minimal capital requirement for rating agencies at RUB 50 mln.

The Act recognizes the rating business as exclusive and prohibits pursuing other lines of business.

According to the law, the Bank of Russia has the right to restrict the use of credit ratings assigned by foreign agencies.

Rating agencies shall maintain independence from any political and economic influence, prevent and identify conflicts of interests. It has no right to recall ratings assigned on the national rating scale, on the basis of rulings passed by foreign states or international associations.

TASS reported earlier that the draft Rating Agencies Act had been presented to the State Duma on 10 February 2015.

The law aims at improving the quality of assigned credit ratings and boosting the systemic stability of the national financial market against international economic and political risks, the explanatory note to the document said.

Financial markets megaregulator, Project Group №1