Ukraine – CM C

Regulatory Template

Material changes

(1) Recent amendments to the Law “On Advertising” introduced additional rules for advertising on the territory of Ukraine and clarified the territoriality principle of advertising in Ukraine. There is a broad notion of both the terms “on the territory of Ukraine” and “advertisement”; even activities undertaken abroad but with effect in Ukraine may trigger the application of the local law. Further implementing regulation and practice need to be followed, which may provide further clarifications on the new rules on advertising. It is generally recommended for foreign credit institutions to take mitigant measures to avoid the application of local advertising law (“Territoriality Mitigants in Advertising”). Relevant elements of these mitigants still include a one-to-one approach and the avoidance of mass marketing and the provision of marketing material specifically designed for Ukrainian prospects or clients (see Definitions & Concepts for further detail); in this regard, the approach in our manual largely remains the same. For advertising out of the European Union (EU) note that by the letter of the law, the abovementioned territoriality requirements do not apply to advertisement disseminated in the official languages of the EU by a legal entity located in one or several EU member states (the “EU entities exception”). For the time being, however, it remains unclear due to a lack of official guidance on which requirements (and to which extent) of the Law on Advertisement will be applicable to advertisement activity in Ukraine for legal entities located in one or several EU member states.

(2) In order to avoid the application of local financial regulation, it is now recommended for a foreign credit institution’s service agreement to be subject to the laws and the jurisdiction of the Credit Institution’s country of establishment.

(3) Lastly, Ukraine has generally adopted a number of restrictions in response to the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation (“martial law limitations”) which are of a capital-control nature. They have been dynamic in nature and may be expected to continue to change in the future. Accordingly, they should be checked carefully each time a particular operation is intended to be carried out. The more salient restrictions with implications on currency control (of relevance for cross-border purposes) are described in the manual. In particular, such martial law limitations concern (but are not limited to) cross-border payments.

Non-material changes

Some comments/conditions have been reworded, and additional references to applicable law/regulation have been made in order to provide more clarity and to reflect the current regulatory situation more accurately. Further non-material changes have been made throughout the documents.

Behaviour Template

The answers in the BT have been aligned to those contained in the RT.