Uncertainty can be the biggest regulatory challenge facing the general counsel of multinational companies: “Give me enough certainty – clear rules and guidance – and I can structure my operations for success.”
In December 2014, the Russian government made amendments to the Information Law No. 242- FZ, which meant that the it will take effect much earlier in September 2015 and not 2016 as originally expected. The law simply states that the personal data of Russian citizens has to be stored locally on domestic servers. However just as with any new law there is much uncertainty and many questions surrounding it. What are the steps to follow? What a company can and cannot legally do in order to comply?
We founded IXcellerate in 2011 after two years looking at the market in Russia. Together with solid finance partners Sumitomo Corporation and IFC (present in Russia for 50 and 21 years, respec- tively), we built Phases 1 and 2 of a 15 Megawatt 15,000m2 campus near central Moscow. With over 20 telecoms networks now connected and international customers such as Thomson Reuters and Sprint, the business has developed fast despite the challenging economic environment.
The only IBM Level3 compliant datacentre in Russia (equivalent to Tier3), Moscow One is the first of a series of datacentres we have planned in the region, with help from experts from some of the world’s leading players such as Equinix and InterXion.
Running IXcellerate, with its head office in London, I kept coming across international as well as locally based Russian companies, with servers abroad concerned about the new law. What I found was that local enterprises were aware of the law, but had little idea of what exactly was needed in order to comply. With international players I was meeting in London, their story was much more complicated. Many were not even aware of the new law. Small to medium businesses were worried, once I shared the information with them, that their operations in Russia would be illegal unless something was done very quickly. With large companies the story was not unusual; some employees seemed to be aware, but were waiting for instructions from senior management to react, rather than proactively forming work groups and implementing an action plan.
As the law evolves legally and technically, we have teamed up with EY, one of the leading law advisories, and EWDN, a digital news distributor in Russia, to raise awareness of the changes coming and simplify compliance process for all those affected. I hope that this white paper will prove to be effective leaving you with a clear understanding allowing you to implement all necessary changes swiftly and efficiently in order to comply with this fast approaching deadline.
Find more on the link below
EWDN & IXcellerate & E&Y Whitepaper