Putin Signs BRICS National Development Bank Ratification for Russia

President Vladimir Putin signed the ratification of a law that sanctions Russian participation in the $100 billion BRICS New Development Bank on Monday, following the Duma ratification earlier. He commented that the BRICS Bank

“will become one of the largest multilateral financial development institutions in the world.”

The Agreement will enter into force and the Bank begin operations, only after all member countries deposit their instruments of ratification with Brazil, noted The BRICS Post Tuesday, while the Central Banks of the member countries will have to finalize an Inter-Central Bank Agreement containing the operational details of swap transactions and the Standing Committees Operational Procedures (SCOP) before the arrangement can be operational.

The first board meeting is supposed to take place in April in the Russian city of Ufa, and the Bank is expected to start fully functioning by the end of 2015, according to the Russian Finance Ministry.

The next BRICS Summit will be held in Ufa on July 9-10 this year, alongside an SCO Summit. The SCO council of national coordinators is meeting from March 10-13, ahead of this year’s annual summit.