Sber awaits the Central Bank's license to issue DFA until the end 2021 of the year – Bits Media

Sber Board Chairman German Gref hopes the Central Bank will approve the issue of digital financial assets this year.

German Gref
stated, what is possible until the end 2021 year, the Central Bank of Russia will register the Sberbank platform for issuing its digital asset. The cloud platform is designed for automatic quick calculations and is hosted on SberCloud. It is aimed at large companies, who will be able to attract financing through the issuance of tokens under the supervision of the Central Bank of Russia.

Sberbank successfully tested a new tool, which is planned to be used for working with digital bills. Replacing a paper bill with a digital one will open up new opportunities for development for the bank. At the first stage, the bank plans to issue and circulate only its own assets on the platform, and then intends to admit other issuers. In September, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sber Anatoly Popov announced, that they are waiting for the application to be approved to launch their digital asset.

“We are in constant contact with the Central Bank of Russia, we discuss different points. We really want to believe, that registration will take place by the end of this year".

The Russian government is actively discussing the launch of a digital ruble with regulators and stakeholders this year. The Central Bank has formed a working group of 12 banking, who will participate in the development of a platform for the state digital currency. These banks included Sberbank.

It is worth noting, that Sberbank, represented by Popov, expressed concern, that the use of the Central Bank’s digital currency can lead to an outflow of money from commercial banks and this will lead to an increase in interest rates on loans and deposits. Perhaps Sberbank is counting, that he will be the main counterparty of the Central Bank in the circulation of state digital currency. In turn, the Central Bank wants to retain this initiative and cannot allow, so that Sberbank’s digital currency is launched before the state one. On the other side, digital currency of Sberbank, used within the banking sector and large enterprises, can serve as a basis for creating and testing a digital currency of the Central Bank.