On 30 June 2021, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a new payment services law. The law seeks to: (i) remove certain regulatory barriers for entering the Ukrainian payment services market, and (ii) implement certain European Union laws applicable to the payment services, such as Directive 2015/2366 (PSD2) and Directive 2009/110/EC (Second E-Money Directive). The law came into force on 1 August 2021 and provides the stakeholders with 12 months to prepare for the launch of the new payment services market. The law may affect many business models in payment services business which were previously essentially unregulated.

Banks seem to face difficulties in implementing their digital transformation projects due to the regulatory restrictions directly or indirectly applicable to cloud computing. This publication represents the initial results of Baker McKenzie’s Kyiv office ongoing research of potential regulatory obstacles for a bank to migrate into a cloud environment leveraging market survey conducted during spring this year.

This handbook Conducting Business in Ukraine 2021 has been prepared by the attorneys of Baker McKenzie’s Kyiv office as a general guide for companies operating or considering investing in Ukraine. It is intended to present an overview of the key aspects of the Ukrainian legal system and the regulation of business activities in the country

By Decision No. 34 dated 21 January 2021 (“Decision No. 34”), the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine (“Securities Commission”) adopted a new regulation on the admission of securities of foreign issuers for circulation in Ukraine. Decision No. 34 came into effect on 6 April 2021 and replaced the existing regulation, which was adopted in 2012.

In brief
On 16 January 2021, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) introduced a specific oversight regime with respect to compliance of Ukrainian banks with data protection and cybersecurity requirements. Banks will now be subject to either remote or “on-site” inspections in these areas. In addition, banks will be required to submit their respective annual self-assessment reports. The template report form, approved by the NBU, indicates that banks will have to disclose all of their “cloud” and “outsourcing” projects with third-party vendors.

Key takeaways
The Ukrainian market is seeing an increased amount of emerging partnerships between banks and technology companies. Such collaboration arrangements have now attracted the regulator’s attention. Accordingly, banks and their technology vendors should dedicate more care to the regulatory aspects of their cooperation (and related technology transactions), to ensure a smooth oversight experience.

Background
The new oversight regime aims to implement the evolving regulatory framework for data protection and cybersecurity in the banking industry. According to its Fintech Strategy 2025, the NBU will also adopt bespoke rules for banks governing IT outsourcing and cloud projects by the end of 2022 and 2024, respectively.

On 16 October 2019 the President of Ukraine signed the Law of Ukraine No. 79-IX (“Split Law”), which deals with a substantial reallocation of the regulatory powers on the financial services markets. While certain technical provisions of the Split Law came into effect on 19 October 2019, the rest of…