This NBU Resolution No. 61 is aimed at implementing legislative provisions regarding the development of financial inclusion and strengthening supervision over banks operating in this segment. The document establishes clear mechanisms for monitoring compliance by such banks with special requirements, restrictions, and their business plans. In effect, the regulator is expanding its toolkit for prompt response to violations, including the possibility of conducting unscheduled inspections and applying enforcement measures.
**Structure and Main Provisions:**
The Resolution consists of two main sections:
1. **Amendments to the Regulation on Inspection Visits:** grounds for unscheduled inspections of financial inclusion banks (non-compliance with regulatory requirements or deviation from the strategy) have been added.
2. **Amendments to the Regulation on Enforcement Measures:** the concepts of “gross” and “systemic” violations of legislation have been detailed; new grounds for the imposition of fines, convening the bank’s board, and classifying the institution as troubled have been defined.
Compared to previous versions, the regulator has introduced clear quantitative and qualitative criteria for assessing violations (e.g., defining “systemic nature” through the number of cases or recurrence over a three-year period), and has linked the calculation of violation amounts to the official exchange rate as of the date the offense was committed.
**Key Aspects for Application:**
* **New grounds for supervision:** The NBU can now initiate an inspection or demand the convening of a bank’s board if failure to implement a strategy or business plan is detected.
* **Financial liability:** A special fine has been introduced for violating the requirements and restrictions for financial inclusion banks — up to 1% of the amount of registered authorized capital.
* **Criteria for being classified as troubled:** Failure to comply with requirements or substantial non-implementation of a strategy without justified reasons serves as an independent ground for classifying a bank as troubled.
* **Strengthening of control:** Banks are required to include in their action plans (following inspection results) items regarding the ensuring of strategy implementation and compliance with special restrictions.
These amendments enter into force on June 26, 2026, and significantly increase the level of responsibility of the management and shareholders of financial inclusion banks for compliance with regulatory requirements.
