A NEW WORKING GROUP FOR DEVELOPING COMPETITION ON THE MARKET OF FINANCIAL SERVICES IS LAUNCHED BY THE ANTIMONOPOLY AUTHORITY

The new inter-departmental body shall analyze development of competition on the financial markets and devise measures towards solving certain issues

On 15 May 2018, Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Kashevarov and First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Sergey Shvetsov, chaired the first session of the Working Group for developing competition on the market of financial services organized by the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Apart from representatives of FAS and the Bank of Russia, it also comprises representatives of the Ministry of Finances and the Ministry of Economic Development.

The participants determined the priority areas for the Working Group: at the first stage, several sectoral and thematic areas of work were identified as well as a list of questions that must be analyzed and regulated under such work areas. They gave due account to the current needs, including those identified by the President of the Russian Federation in 2018-2020 National Competition Development Plan.

Sectoral areas of work include banking and micro-financing services, payment services, insurance services; thematic areas cover state participation in market relations in the field of financial services, operations of infrastructure organizations on the financial market, possible measures designed to stimulate competition in the course of digitalization of the economy, use of advertising and other methods for promoting financial services.

In the near future Working Sib-Groups shall be formed on the above areas, and representatives of the business community will be invited to join.

A special item on the Working Group agenda concerned was the Action Plan (2018 – 2020 “Road Map” for developing competition in different sectors of Russian economy), drafted by FAS, in the part of “Financial Markets”. The Action Plan is drafted in accord with the National Competition Development Plan.

Members of the Working Group discussed and settled several disagreements with regard to the Action Plan in order to present a unified position within the frame of the established procedures for discussing and approving the Plan.

Andrey Kashevarov pointed out: “The group is formed as an ongoing inter-departmental working body aimed at analyzing important issues of developing competition on financial markets and devise methods to solve them”.