Russia to hike penalties for commercial secret disclosure

The Russian government intends to increase penalties for commercial secret disclosure by 6-8 times, according to the government’s bill submitted to the national parliament on Monday.
“I hope this will have a positive effect on the economy and the financial market, including its currency segment, and will hamper those who want to get this sort of profit from operations with the use of insider information,” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, commenting on the bill.
Under the document, a penalty for gathering information constituting commercial, tax or bank secret, including through the theft of documents, bribery or threats, will increase six-fold, from the current $1,600 to $10,500 or to the extent of a convict’s income for a period of up to 1 year (currently from 1 to 6 months).
Also, a penalty for the disclosure of commercial secrets by a person who is entrusted with such information or which has become known to him through the exercise of his official duties is expected to rise to $21,000 or to the extent of an income for a period of up to 2 years. The current penalty is $2,500 or the size of an income for a period of up to 1 year. Therefore, the penalty is set to rise more than eight-fold.
A penalty for actions that cause material damage or actions committed for selfish purposes is set to rise by 7.5 times, from $4,200 to $31,600 or to the extent of an income for a period of up to 3 years from the current 1.5 years.