Top Managers of Failed Banks May Be Denied Access to Senior Positions

MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Federation Council’s budget and financial markets committee has proposed to prohibit top-level managers of failed banks from ever holding senior positions in banks, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported Monday.

“Senators propose to introduce a legal ‘ban from profession’ for unconscionable bankers,” the committee’s deputy chairman Nikolai Zhuravlev was quoted as saying by Izvestia.

Zhuravlev added that “criminal management” must be stopped from moving from one bank, whose license has been revoked, to another. And according to the deputy chairman, up to 80 percent of bankruptcies in the Russian banking system may be of a criminal nature.

According to the press service of the Russian Central Bank, the watchdog supports the idea of a life-long ban, but suggests that it only should be meted out to managers who have led organizations to bankruptcy twice, Izvestia reported.

Currently the Central Bank consults the blacklist of bankers suspected of serious violations before approving appointments to senior level positions, but it is entirely up to the regulator to approve the appointment if the manager is blacklisted.