Foreign insurance companies will be able to operate in Russia without Russian subsidiaries

09.06.2021

In connection with Russia’s WTO accession commitments, the State Duma adopted in the first reading draft laws permitting foreign insurance companies to operate in Russia through their branches without creating Russian subsidiary legal entities. The following requirements are stipulated for these branches:

  • at least 8 years of life insurance activity and at least 5 years of other types of insurance activity in the country of registration the WTO Member State;
  • at least 5 years of experience in insurance business through a branch in other countries;
  • the amount of assets in the most recent annual balance sheet must exceed US $ 5 billion;
  • location and address must be in the territory of one WTO Member State, excluding offshore zones.

The draft laws also clarify that the term “insurer” in the Russian legislation will also include foreign insurance companies.

Accordingly, foreign insurance companies will be subject to administrative liability in the insurance field, and their officials will be subject to criminal liability in the case of falsification of financial documents and/or statements.

The amendments are to take effect on August 22, 2021.