Russia Changes Course on Law Requiring Visa and MasterCard to Pay Huge Security Deposit (July 3, 2014)
Visa and MasterCard may be able to dodge paying massive security deposits to continue operating in Russia, under new legislation that took effect July 1. Russian President Vladimir Putin in May introduced a new law requiring the U.S. payment networks to deposit the equivalent of two days’ processing volume as collateral—estimated at $2.9 billion—with Russia’s central bank. But another law this month reversed that edict, opening the door for Visa and MasterCard to operate in Russia as long as all their domestic transactions are processed within the country’s borders by October 31, 2014. Both networks reportedly are working on plans to establish local processing within Russia.
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