Rosfinmonitoring May Gain Access to Bank Video Footage

Rosfinmonitoring, Russia’s financial monitoring service, may soon be granted the right to request photo and video materials from cameras installed in bank branches and ATMs. This measure aims to combat illegal cash withdrawals and the financing of terrorism. The new requirements have been introduced as amendments for the second reading of a bill in the State Duma to update the main anti-money laundering law, according to RBC, citing the document.

A representative of Rosfinmonitoring confirmed that the agency developed these amendments at the request of the government. “The requirement will only apply to materials already available to financial organizations and will not obligate them to organize additional photo or video recording,” the representative stated. The law will apply to photos and videos made after the amendments take effect, as specified in the document.

The agency also explained that surveillance camera footage and photo documentation will help “identify the real holder of a bank card, as well as locate individuals who are wanted, which will aid in solving crimes.” The volume and nature of the requested information will be determined by the government.

Currently, such data is provided only by court order during investigations. However, Alexey Lezhnikov, a lawyer at the law firm Sotby, noted that by the time crimes related to illegal cash withdrawals are discovered, ATM and bank branch recordings are often deleted due to storage time limits on servers. According to Stepan Khantimirov, a lawyer at Asterisk law firm, the amendments will help in tracking down “droppers”—individuals who accept illegally withdrawn funds to their own or others’ accounts and cash them out for a fee.

At present, each bank independently decides in what format to record and how long to store materials, explained Alexey Voylukov, Vice President of the Association of Russian Banks (ARB). “To provide such materials, banks would need to download and store them somewhere,” he said. Voylukov also noted that there should be standards regulating, among other things, the format in which Rosfinmonitoring will accept information from banks. He believes this will inevitably lead to additional costs for market participants.