OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2009. The Bank of Russia could consider options of further tightening of capital adequacy requirements for banks in mid-2010 following the evaluation of the results of the first stage, which calls for raising minimum equity to RUB 90 mn effective 2010, Director of CBR’s Department for Licensing and Financial Support Mikhail Sukhov told journalists.

At present, there are no minimum capital adequacy requirements for operational banks and the law only sets this limit for newly established lending institutions. However, a threshold level of RUB 90 mn has been set for all banks effective January 1, 2010 and RUB 180 mn effective 2012. “To begin with, we need to see how the first stage goes: how many banks (which are unable to ensure additional capitalization) will be reorganized into non-bank lending institutions and how this will impact the quality of capital in mid-2010, so the the issue remains on the table and there is no need to close the door”, Sukhov said.