The Regulator as a partner: the NSSMC team explained to businesses how it is changing its control practices during the war

As a Regulator, the Commission is guided by a philosophy of state control that aims not to punish, but to cooperate with and support market participants. This approach is designed to help businesses strengthen their market positions.

New approaches to regulation after the Law of Ukraine No. 3585-IX entered into force were explained by Ruslan Magomedov, Chairman of the NSSMC, and the heads of the Commission’s line departments — Stepan Zolotar, Director of the Legal Support and Internal Compliance Control Department, Deputy Director of the Law Enforcement Department Yuriy Savisko, and Director of the Methodology Department for Regulation of Securities Market Professional Participants Maksym Tymokhin during a conversation with business representatives at the Sayenko Kharenko law firm.

According to Ruslan Magomedov, the Commission seeks not to punish, but to create transparent and effective conditions for the market to function so that businesses can further develop while complying with legal requirements.

“The Commission considers sanctions to be an instrument of the last resort. We have changed our approach to law enforcement and are focusing on corrective measures and cooperation with market participants,” emphasized Ruslan Magomedov.

Since 2025, new mechanisms have been introduced that give market participants more opportunities to correct violations without the application of harsh sanctions.

Thus, instead of inspections, which can only be carried out in exceptional cases, the Commission first sends requests for information or for measures to be taken. This was explained by Stepan Zolotar. Currently, inspections are not conducted.

“If a market participant acknowledges and eliminates the violation and undertakes to take measures to prevent new violations in the future, the Regulator may significantly reduce the financial penalty and set other terms for its payment agreed upon by the parties,” said Deputy Director of the Law Enforcement Department Yuriy Savisko.

All these conditions are reflected in the Commission’s new practice of concluding agreements on the settlement of consequences of violating relevant legislation. In 2024, seven such agreements were concluded, which proves the effectiveness of this mechanism.

Yuriy Savisko emphasized that if a violation is detected, businesses have the opportunity to actively participate in the law enforcement process, provide explanations, propose settlements, and seek legal assistance.

Even in cases of serious violations, the NSSMC uses financial sanctions without immediately resorting to most severe measures, such as license termination, which is applied only in cases of systematic violations of relevant legislation and failure to comply with orders previously issued by the Commission to eliminate violations, which, in turn, indicates a complete lack of cooperation on the part of the perpetrator.