Summary:The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) has recently completed a two-year process of assuming the powers and functions of the previous “standalone” regulator of the securities markets and the insurance industry. This has included absorbing 1,300 new staff and inducting them into the organizational structures of the central bank. In addition to its new supervisory functions covering a disparate group of markets and professional market participants, it has also assumed a developmental role for nonbank financial markets with an emphasis on developing proportionate regulation and optimizing the regulatory burden on market participants. This is a challenging medium to long-term role while also seeking to ensure that standards are raised and that undesirable elements are removed from the market as rapidly as possible.