MOSCOW, April 18 (RAPSI) – The Russian government has approved the idea of foreign banks’ direct involvement in the national payment system and the addition of the ruble to the Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) system.

This information is contained in the notations in the bill on amending the existing law on the national payment system posted on the government’s website Friday.

CLS Bank is a special purpose bank that operates the largest multicurrency cash settlement system. It was established by the world’s 20 leading FX banks in 2002 to mitigate settlement risk in the FX market. The use of the CLS system allows individuals and companies to make foreign settlements in a national currency without conversion into dollars or other convertible currency.

The idea of creating a national payment system crystallized after international payment systems Visa and MasterCard stopped servicing the transactions of Bank Rossiya and SME Bank clients after the United States imposed sanctions on Rossiya bank, its main shareholder and SME Bank.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev chaired a meeting on April 16 in which it was decided that a national payment card would be created by a new start-up company. The Central Bank will hold a controlling stake in the new company. Russian banks have been instructed to set up groups by late May to ensure the uninterrupted operation of foreign card payment systems even in case of Western sanctions.