The global economic and financial crisis necessitates legislative reforms in the banking system of Armenia Emil Soghomonyan , chairman of the Union of Banks of Armenia and Chairman of the Board of the Prometheus bank said.
The union made a number of legislative initiatives to streamline the tax laws in the banking system and to settle problems related with the pledge of movable property.
Mr. Soghomonyan reminded that the Armenian government has recently submitted to the National Assembly a package of draft laws relating to services provided by banks. Banking services are exempt from value added tax, but there are some services that are subject to VAT. “There is some misunderstanding and we appealed to the National Assembly to settle those issues,” he said.
According to Mr. Sogomonyan, taxation of services provided by not residents of the country are also seem to be problematic. “This in particular applies to the payment systems, such as SWIFT, MASTER CARD, VISA CARD, which should not be subjected to double taxation and tax payment should be part of the cost of services,” he explained.
According to him, the problem of mortgage of movable property is troublesome today. “Armenia does not have a single inventory for movable property, which is particularly felt during the crisis,” he said.
The next proposal is aimed at ensuring a clean field for commercial banks’ activities, concerned the problem of banking risks, said Mr. Soghomonyan.
