The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is considering setting a "reporting line" for banks and major companies through which they would inform it in advance about big foreign exchange deals that could affect the value of the ruble, Reuters reported Dec. 3.

The regulator and the National Finance Association, which brings together Russian financial market participants, have discussed the proposal, but no decision has been made, a source told the newswire.

The discussions are part of work on a new code of conduct for the foreign currency exchange market, which is being prepared by the central bank, representatives of major lenders and financial associations, including the NFA. The aim of the code is to fight fraud, improve market efficiency and align Russian rules with global standards.

A Reuters source said market participants opposed the inclusion of a notification clause in the forex code and agreed to continue discussions on the issue. Some banks are against the central bank's proposal as they are concerned about compromising client confidentiality and also about the size of penalties they could face for noncompliance.

A Russian finance ministry official told Reuters that the central bank's proposal would not breach ethical standards as banks would not need to disclose client names when notifying the regulator about large forex transactions.

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