On Thursday , October 8, 2009 the largest players on the Russian e-money market and representatives of professional industry associations held a round table on the legislative regulation “Electronic money: Legislative Initiatives” and announced the creation of the Electronic Money Association (EMA).

At the moment the following members have already joined the association: WebMoney Transfer, i-Free, Yandex.Dengi, QIWI, the National Association of Microfinance Market Participants (NAUMIR) and National Association of E-commerce Market Participants (NAUET).

The major aim of the Electronic Money Association is to encourage the development of the e-money market to make it a popular financial facility in the interests of consumers, state and industry. The basic ways to achieve this aim is to work on legal aspects of the e-money market regulations, to widen cooperation between market participants and interactions with other business entities and government bodies, to increase market transparency, to work out best practice standards, to popularize e-money-based services and protect the rights of their consumers.

‘There are no doubts that electronic money in partnership with largest banks, money transfer companies and payment terminals networks has become a popular and rather significant element of the Russian payment infrastructure. Such a large-scale and fast developing economic sector needs state regulations, EMA Council Chairman Victor Dostov was quoting as saying on Thursday. This is precisely why a decision was made to found the association of electronic money market participants (Electronic Money Association) that is to unite the largest providers and industry associations working in the e-market sector. The immediate priority of the EMA is to participate in elaboration of normative documents and laws on regulation of e-money in Russia, including analysis of best national and international practice and creation of analytical reporting standards for all participants. We’ll welcome all companies and associations ready to join the EMA, Dostov concluded.

The EMA is the trade body representing electronic money issuers and payment institutions. It brings together payments companies, the telecommunications and transport sectors as well as specialist e-money issuers to address issues of common interest and to act in the interest of the industry as a whole. The EMA represents industry with regulators, government bodies as well as international organisations. It responds to regulatory proposals, drafts industry guidelines and acts as a forum for communication and education

E-MONEY: RUSSIA & CIS ­
­­­­ Regulations, Fraud preventions and Opportunities for development ­ ­
­12 – 13 November, 2009­, Moscow­­

Internet transactions in Russia are growing rapidly. So is the demand for internet banking and internet financial services. In order to stay on top of the competition, banks and financial institutions have to develop internet-based facilities accordingly. Experts forecast that in a couple of years all financial payments and settlements will be conducted via Internet.

Even the infamous current crisis has not affected the e-money market – it continues to show stable and lively growth.

But there are a lot of problems on the way to this internet-prosperity. Inadequate legislation, regulation and market monitoring; fraud and money laundering; lack of co-operation between different categories of market participants – these issues are among the many obstacles, which prevent the successful development of this highly-potential market.

The forthcoming conference «E-money: Russia & CIS», which will take place in Moscow on 12 & 13 of November 2009, will bring together the leading players of local and international markets, legislators and regulators, representatives from commercial and governments bodies, whose activity and decisions indicate and rule the development of the sector.

The aim of the conference is to give all participants in this lucrative and perspective market a clear picture of raising opportunities in order to better plan their strategies and investments in the region.

Among the speakers and panelists are:

• Alexander Khandruev, First Vice President, Association of Russian Regional Banks, Head of Consulting Group “Banks. Finance. Investment.”
• Dave Birch, Director, Consult Hyperion, UK
• ­Dr. Thae­r Sabri, Chief Executive, Electronic Money Association, UK
• Evgeniya Zavalishina, General Manager, Yandex. Money
• Petr Darakhvelidze, Director for Development, WebMoney Transfer
• Vladimir Urbanskiy, Head, Selfservising channels, Alfa Bank
• Yulia Demenyuk, Vice President for Retail, VTB24 Bank
• Boris Kim, Head, Committee for electronic payments’ systems and banking instruments, National Association Of Electronic Trade Participants
• Yuriy Malcev, Co-Founder and General Manager, Elecsnet
• Pavel Medvedev, Member of Financial Markets Committee, State Duma
• Lou Naumovski, head of Visa in Russia (2000-2008)
• Andrey Romanenko, CEO, OE Investments (Qiwi)
• Russian Central Bank representative
• WebCreds representative

… and many others.

For conference programme and registration details please see: