A new piece of legislation establishing methods of control over the incomes and expenses of Ukrainian citizens was passed by the Rada late last month. From now on the government will be aware of all individuals’ financial transactions exceeding US $10,000. Experts of the State Financial Monitoring Service stated the bill will make money laundering a much more difficult task as law enforcers will get given additional levers of influence The new law obligates notary publics to inform the government on clients’ financial transactions exceeding UAH 80,000, in particular:

- transfers to anonymous accounts abroad and vice versa – inflows of finances to Ukraine;

- purchase and sale of traveler’s checks;

- opening accounts to deposit funds to the benefit of a third party;

- placement of precious metals and other valuables in pawn shops.

Deals exceeding UAH 400,000 (the price of a studio or one-room apartment in Kyiv these days) may elicit the suspicion of the authorities.  The SFMS says it will not control each and every citizens and this process will be random. There are also no automatic requirements to submit a report to the SFMS.