MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law authorizing banks holding base licenses to open correspondent accounts with foreign banks on a standing basis.

Small banks were not allowed earlier to open correspondent accounts with foreign credit institutions. The exception was only for cases when it was required in order to participate in a foreign payment system.

The law will come into force from January 1, 2024.

Since June 2017, credit institutions in Russia are broken down into two groups by the equity level, the scope of requirements to them and powers - banks with the base license and banks with the universal license. The minimal capital amount for a credit institution with the base license is set as 300 mln rubles ($3.26 mln).