Zoia Zahynei

The issues of crimes commission in the sphere of banking activity in Ukraine are highlighted. It is emphasized that crimes in banking activity are systematically committed by the public officials of the state. Such actions committed by the public officials cause the losses to the Ukrainian economy in the specially big amount. In the last two years, the socially dangerous consequences of these acts for the state economy are calculated by hundreds of millions of hryvnias. The defendants of these resonant criminal cases are the heads of banking institutions and senior public officials, as well as the officials of the National Bank of Ukraine. Moreover, the losses of these crimes cannot be compensated to the state economy, since the money laundered are placed for a long time in offshore areas outside the state. The conclusion is fomulated that current criminal legislation of Ukraine should be amended. First, there is the social need for criminalization of the socially dangerous actions committed by the public officials in banking sphere. Second, the study of the criminal legislation of the separate countries demonstrates that criminal liability of the legal persons for commission of the criminal offences in the sphere of banking activity is an effective measure to prevent the negative effects of the criminal threats. So this liability should also be introduced in Ukraine. Third, negligent crimes in the sphere of banking activities should also be criminalized, because an absence of such criminal prohibilion leads to the negligent behavior of the bank managers and to the socially dangerous results.

An effective system for combating banking crimes can ensure the stability of the Ukrainian banking sector. Developing such a system requires an analysis of public policy institutional instruments to counter threats to the banking system stability. The article proposes the crime counteraction concept for the Ukrainian banking system based on the analysis of scientific articles dealing with the issue, relevant provisions of legal acts and on the study of functions of law enforcement agencies, individual executive bodies, central public authorities, state collegial bodies, territorial NBU departments, Ukrainian banks and their branches, the Deposit Guarantee Fund, international institutions, and bank clients.
It has been established that the stability of the Ukrainian banking system can be ensured by effective interaction of all actors in combating crime in the banking business. Overlapping of their functions and some conflict rules negatively affect ensuring the banking system stability by entities engaged in banking crime counteraction. Therefore, an algorithm of cooperation between relevant counteraction entities should be developed and reflected in the Banking and Financial Security Strategy on the legislative level. Optimization of statistical reporting on crime in the Ukrainian banking sector in a more informative format requires data on both individual types of banking crimes and on the persons who commit them. As part of the work of the National Bank of Ukraine’s Public Council, it is necessary to organize regional public councils and ensure cooperation between bank clients and local banking institutions. It is assumed that the development of effective mechanisms for protecting rights and legitimate interests of depositors and creditors, as well as combating criminalization in the banking sector will be the main functions of these regional public councils. The relevant innovations require amendments to the Regulation on the NBU Public Council.

Acknowledgment
The article was prepared as part of a project for young scientists of Ukraine in 2017 (state registration number – 0117 U 006531), Improving the Legislation of Ukraine Regarding the Protection of Banking Activities in the Context of European Integration: Economic and Legal Aspect, by Alyona M. Klochko, Ph.D. (Law), Sumy National Agrarian University, Head of the Chair of International Relations.