The Verkhovna Rada at second and as a whole passed bill No. 5850 on strengthening the independence of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), which is necessary to close obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The bill was supported by 255 MPs at a meeting on Oct. 19.
“The implementation of these changes will have a positive impact on the activities and the level of corporate governance of the NBU. The interaction between the Council and the Board of the NBU will improve, the requirements for members of both of these collegial bodies of the central bank will become tougher,” NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko commented on the adoption of the bill on Facebook.
He added that the law will also strengthen the financial independence of the NBU, provided the regulator with the opportunity to fully use all the tools for managing gold and foreign exchange reserves, and more efficiently and professionally perform its functions in this area.
“The implementation of the draft law will help improve the conditions for the National Bank to properly fulfill its powers, strengthen the institutional independence of the regulator and will help resolve a number of problematic issues that have arisen in the course of its activity,” Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the committee on finance, taxation and customs policy, said.
According to an explanatory note, law No. 5850 removed the requirement for a candidate for the position of a member of the NBU Council to reside permanently in Ukraine, as well as the requirement that the candidate for the position of NBU head have no criminal record.
The draft law also settled the issue of the regulator’s conducting inspections of banks on issues of cash circulation, in particular in connection with the recent change in approaches to bank inspections – taking into account the SREP methodology. The NBU is granted the right to conduct inspections in the areas of organization of cash work, collection of funds and transportation of currency values, organization of the protection of premises and ensuring the safety of valuables.
In addition, the Rada adopted law No. 5852 with amendments to the law on public procurement regarding the procurement of legal services by the National Bank of Ukraine, which was supported by 268 MPs.
According to the information on the Rada’s website, the law grants the NBU the right to procure legal services to represent its interests in the international arena, in particular, to protect rights and interests during the settlement of disputes, consideration of cases in foreign jurisdictions where the NBU is a party.
