The Russian government has submitted a draft law on measures to counter the financing of extremist activities to the State Duma.

This draft law (No. 671687-8) was posted on Monday in the legislative database of the Chamber of Parliament of the Russian Federation.

The law proposes to extend existing legislation on combating terrorism financing to cover financing of extremist activities.

Previously, powers in this area were assigned to the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring in accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated April 26, 2021 No. 248, the explanatory note says.

Currently, monitoring entities complying with the requirements of the federal law “On combating the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism” (Law No. 115-FZ) are already implementing certain aspects related to combating the financing of extremist activities, including those related to freezing (blocking) funds or other property related to organizations and individuals put on the list of organizations and individuals known to be involved in extremist or terrorist activities.

Thus, the new responsibilities that the bill imposes on financial organizations are already partially related to those currently being implemented and, in general, will be related to the provision of information on financial transactions of inspected persons at the request of RosFinMonitoring, the explanatory note says.