Russian banks received millions of requests for information about debtors from the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) over three days between September 18 and 21, an unprecedented volume, the National Financial Market Council reported.
One regional bank received 12.8 million requests on September 19 alone — as many as it normally receives in a month.
The council’s head, Andrey Yemelin, said the volume of FSSP requests over those three days was at least 10 to 12 times the usual level, and up to 30 times at some banks. More than 90% of the requests concerned people who were not customers of the banks that received them, said Yelena Samokhina, director of the banking development department at the Association of Banks of Russia.
Experts believe technical errors may account for the volume of requests, which the FSSP generates automatically. “The service has previously acknowledged that it resends requests if a bank hasn’t confirmed receipt. If those confirmations were lost, the automated system could have sent banks the entire backlog, along with duplicate requests,” said Mikhail Bryukhanov, chairman of Pervouralskbank’s board of directors.
Banks are legally required to provide the requested information within three days or face fines of 50,000 to 100,000 rubles for each request. Given the volume, Yemelin said “the fines could add up to amounts that pose a real threat to the financial stability of some banks.”
The council asked the Central Bank to look into the situation. The Central Bank said it had “received the inquiry and will review it according to established procedures.”
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