In January 2026, the National Bank of Ukraine focused on further improving financial market regulation: it updated its approaches to customer identification, risk management, and reporting, and continued to ease currency restrictions for businesses.
This is evidenced by an analysis of NBU regulatory changes conducted by the Financial Pulse Center for Economic Research and Forecasting.
“Although January is not traditionally a peak month for regulatory innovations, the National Bank has adopted a number of decisions that are of strategic importance for the financial market. These are not just technical amendments, but a gradual approximation of Ukrainian regulation to European standards,” said Dilyara Mustafayeva, head of the analytical department at Financial Pulse.
One of the important decisions was the update of the NBU’s BankID system regulations. The relevant changes, approved by Resolution No. 1 of the Board, brought the document into line with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Electronic Identification and Electronic Trust Services” and the EU eIDAS Regulation.
“For banks and non-bank financial institutions, this means clearer and stricter rules for customer identification, but at the same time a higher level of trust in digital services,” explains the expert.
In addition, the NBU updated the authentication rules in the payment market, tightening the requirements for the use of strong authentication. According to the expert, this decision is primarily aimed at improving the security of payment transactions.
The further easing of currency restrictions was also an important signal for business. In January, the regulator adopted several resolutions at once, expanding the opportunities for companies in foreign economic activity.
“The National Bank is clearly demonstrating its desire to support Ukrainian exporters and business in general. The easing of currency restrictions is an attempt to find a balance between macrofinancial stability and the needs of the economy in wartime,” the analyst emphasizes.
The regulator has improved a number of documents on risk management in banks and banking groups. In particular, it has harmonized them with the previously introduced requirements for banks to determine ICAAP, ILAAP, and leverage ratios.
Also in January, the regulator updated the rules for submitting statistical reports and amended the regulatory acts on the formation of information exchange files in the field of financial monitoring. In addition, the NBU issued a letter providing recommendations to banks on financial monitoring of the activities of individual entrepreneurs.
“Taken together, these decisions indicate that the NBU continues to move towards modernizing the financial sector, even despite the difficult war conditions,” concluded Dilyara Mustafayeva.
Reference:
The public organization “Center for Economic Research and Forecasting ”Financial Pulse” was established on March 2, 2015, with the aim of uniting the efforts of participants and experts in the Ukrainian financial market for its development and improvement.
The Center’s activities will contribute to the following goals:
Improving the quality of the regulatory framework governing the financial market and eliminating regulatory problems that hinder its full development
Increasing the transparency of financial institutions
Developing new market instruments and mechanisms, including through the introduction of best international practices
Improving the financial literacy of the population
Promoting economic reforms, including through financial decentralization
Promoting the development of entrepreneurship, etc.
Center website: http://finpuls.com/
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/finpulse.center/
