Duma approves bill on more authority to Central Bank

The State Duma passed amendments to the federal law on the Russian Central Bank on the first reading today. The amendments stipulate that the Central Bank will have the right to carry out repeated audits of credit organizations regarding the same issues and the same accounting periods. Repeated inspections could be conducted in the event the Central Bank makes a corresponding decision. Chairman of the parliamentary committee for credit organizations and financial markets Valery Zubov noted that additional rights were granted to the Central Bank for the sake of improving banking control, one of the key functions of the Central Bank. The Cabinet does not support these amendments, nevertheless, 390 Duma deputies voted for them with one vote against and no abstentions.