The Verkhovna Rada in the first reading supported a draft law that provides for amendments to certain legislative acts with the aim of Ukraine's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). 249 people's deputies voted in favor of adopting draft law No. 14327-d as a basis.
Ukraine's accession to SEPA will allow citizens and businesses to make euro transfers between participating countries quickly, without unnecessary commissions and under unified rules. At the same time, a mandatory condition for joining SEPA is bringing Ukrainian legislation in the field of prevention and counteraction of money laundering and terrorist financing into compliance with European Union legal acts.
"Accession to SEPA will allow Ukrainian banks, enterprises and citizens to make euro transfers quickly, safely and at a significantly lower cost than now, which will directly affect the development of foreign trade, capital movement, investment and financial inclusion," the explanatory note to the document says.
The main innovation of the document is the creation of a Register of accounts and individual bank safe deposit boxes of individuals. This refers to a single database where the fact of opening and closing accounts, electronic wallets and agreements for the use of bank safe deposit boxes, as well as basic data of their owners, will be recorded.
Information to the register will be submitted by the National Bank, banks, non-bank financial institutions, payment services and electronic money issuers. At the same time, the database will not contain data on the movement of funds, balances on accounts or the contents of safe deposit boxes – that is, in fact, this is not about controlling expenses, but about accounting for where exactly citizens have accounts opened or safe deposit boxes rented.
The register is to be administered by the central executive body responsible for financial policy (the Ministry of Finance), and access to it will be granted only to designated state bodies within the framework of financial monitoring procedures. The draft law also states that the innovation does not provide for any restrictions or delays in conducting financial transactions for individuals.
"Not all law enforcement agencies will have access to these registers. Our committee decided that the Bureau of Economic Security, ARMA, as well as the NACP will have direct unimpeded access. These are the minimum requirements of European directives," said Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk, deputy head of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, during her speech in the Rada.
Among other things, the draft law provides for the creation of a separate register of ultimate beneficial owners of trusts, expansion of the circle of financial monitoring entities and strengthening of liability for submitting inaccurate data about business owners.
Adoption of the law is one of the key requirements of European partners. It should be noted that the draft law was registered in parliament and considered by the relevant committee back in April, but the people's deputies were able to consider it only now.
The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a European Union initiative for payment integration to simplify bank transfers in euros.
In December 2025, the government approved a package of draft laws that open the way for Ukraine's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The Ministry of Finance reported that the document provides for the creation of a Register of accounts and individual bank safe deposit boxes of individuals, which will contain only the IBAN, the owner's full name and the bank's name. Fund balances, account movements, the contents of safe deposit boxes or the date of opening/closing are not included.