Policy Event Β· Medium impact

Russian Banks Ask Companies To Justify USDT Purchases

Russian banks serving import-export clients have begun asking companies to explain the economic purpose of USDT purchases and check counterparties against a forthcoming digital-currency exchange operator register. The move tightens stablecoin AML controls before the new registry is operational.

Medium impactπŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί RussiaAMLStablecoinUSDTBank of RussiaSovcombank

APAC FINSTAB analysis

Although this is outside core APAC, it is relevant because global market-structure, enforcement, and stablecoin precedents often shape licensing expectations for APAC exchanges, issuers, custodians, and DeFi teams. Protocols/assets in scope: USDT. Named institutions or platforms: Bank of Russia, Sovcombank. Teams should monitor the original source, map the change to licensing, custody, disclosure, and market-access obligations, and update their jurisdiction playbooks before the next compliance review.

Compliance read-through: map this event to entity licensing, market-access, custody, disclosure, token listing, and operational-risk obligations before expanding or marketing in the affected jurisdiction.

View related AML tracker page β†’

Related policy events

Bank Of Russia Approves BTC ETH And USDT For Exchange Trading

The Bank of Russia added Bitcoin, Ether and Tether to the list of digital assets eligible for public trading on licensed exchanges, with limits applying to retail investors. The decision gives Russia's exchange framework a narrow approved-asset perimeter while preserving investor-protection constraints.

High impactπŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί RussiaRegulationExchangeStablecoinBTCETHUSDT