Central Bank Orders Banks to Remove Conditions on Non-Return of Deposits

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has required commercial banks to exclude from deposit agreements clauses that limit customers' right to return their money. The regulator found during an inspection that some banks had included in deposit agreements a waiver of liability for early return of funds. Such reservations applied to periods of rallies, mass riots, street actions, robbery or armed attacks, as well as the bank's own insolvency. The Central Bank emphasized that under current legislation, a bank is obliged to return the deposit amount or part of it at the client's request, regardless of the type of deposit. Conditions that infringe on these rights are deemed invalid and have no legal force, even with the depositor's signature. Commercial banks have been instructed to conduct a complete inventory of all existing agreements and immediately eliminate norms that contradict the law. The regulator did not disclose the names of credit organizations that included such provisions in their documents.