2025-01-01 | JPRM-2025-012-AThe Monetary Policy and Regulation Board of Ecuador issued Resolution No. JPRM-2025-012-A to amend its previous recognition decree following the death of security officer Armando José Zabala Zurita from wounds sustained during an October 2024 ambush. The resolution formally expresses grief for the two fallen officers, establishes the 'Arias-Zabala Outstanding Performance Recognition' award, and mandates commemorative plaques and the renaming of security operation centers at the Bank of Ecuador's Guayaquil and Cuenca branches. It further instructs the Bank's Administrative and Financial Management to create implementation guidelines and annual award procedures within one month of publication.
RESOLUTION No. JPRM-2025-012-A THE MONETARY POLICY AND REGULATION BOARD
CONSIDERING:
That, the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, in Article 66, numeral 3, literal b), recognizes and guarantees to all persons the right to a life free from violence in the public and private spheres;
That, the Magna Carta in Article 226 prescribes that public servants and persons acting by virtue of a state power shall exercise only the competencies and faculties attributed to them in the Constitution and the Law;
That, Article 227 ibid states that the Public Administration constitutes a service to the community that is governed by the principles of effectiveness, quality, hierarchy, coordination, planning, among others;
That, the third paragraph of Article 303 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador determines that the Central Bank of Ecuador is a legal entity of public law, whose organization and functioning shall be established by law;
That, Article 26 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code determines that the Central Bank of Ecuador is a legal entity of Public Law, part of the Executive Branch, of indefinite duration, with institutional, administrative, budgetary, and technical autonomy;
That, Article 47.1 of the aforementioned Organic Code created the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board as part of the Executive Branch, responsible for the formulation of monetary policy, as the highest governing body of the Central Bank of Ecuador;
That, Article 47.6 supra, regarding the functions of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, among others, establishes: “26. Those others conferred upon it by law. (...) For the fulfillment of these functions, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board shall issue regulations in matters within its competence, without being able to alter legal provisions”;
That, Article 47.7 of the aforementioned Code states: “The acts of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board enjoy the presumption of legality and shall be expressed through resolutions that shall have obligatory force (…)”;
That, the Tenth Transitional Provision of the Organic Law on Public Integrity, published in the Third Supplement of the Official Register No. 68, of June 26, 2025, establishes
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that the current members of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Financial Policy and Regulation Board shall cease their functions prematurely once the appointment of the members of the new Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board created with the reform to the Organic Monetary and Financial Code is finalized;
That, the second paragraph of the Fourth Transitional Provision of the Organic Law for the Strengthening of Protected Areas, published in the Fourth Supplement of the Official Register No. 80, of July 14, 2025, provides that the structure and functions of the Financial Policy and Regulation Board and the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, established in the Organic Monetary and Financial Code prior to June 26, 2025, shall remain in force until the appointment of the members of the new Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board;
That, Article 128 of the Organic Administrative Code establishes: “Normative act of an administrative nature. It is any unilateral declaration made in the exercise of an administrative competence that produces general legal effects, is not exhausted by its compliance, and directly”;
That, literals b) and h) of Article 22 of the Organic Law on Public Service establish as duties of public servants, among others: “(…) b) To personally fulfill the obligations of their position, with eagerness, efficiency, warmth, solidarity, and in the interest of the collective good, with the diligence they generally employ in the administration of their own activities (…) h) To exercise their functions with institutional loyalty, rectitude, and good faith. Their acts must adhere to the objectives of the institution in which they serve and administer public resources in accordance with the principles of legality, effectiveness, economy, and efficiency, rendering accounts of their management”;
That, on October 9, 2024, an attempted assault occurred on the Cuenca-Molleturo highway against a convoy of the Central Bank of Ecuador transporting monetary assets, a criminal event that claimed the lives of public servants Ilario Erwin Arias Ruiz and Armando José Zabala Zurita, and left injured the security team members of the Central Bank of Ecuador, whose brave and timely reaction prevented the theft of the valued assets being transported in an armored vehicle of this institution;
That, through Resolution No. JPRM-2024-021-A, of October 17, 2024, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board issued the Recognition to the officials of the Central Bank of Ecuador who participated in the operation of October 9, 2024;
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That, subsequent to the date referred to in the preceding consideration, unfortunate events occurred regarding the health status of the colleagues who were injured and hospitalized, with Mr. Armando José Zabala Zurita passing away due to the severity of the wounds caused in the attack;
That, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, through an extraordinary session by mixed modality, on August 28, 2025, reviewed the proposal sent via Memorandum No. BCE-BCE-2025-0184-M, of August 27, 2025, by the General Manager of the Central Bank of Ecuador to the President of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board; as well as, the technical report No. BCE-SATH-409-2025, of August 26, 2025, and the legal report No. BCE-GJ-037-2025, of August 26, 2025; and,
In exercise of its functions and in accordance with Article 47.7 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, resolves:
REFORMING RESOLUTION NO. JPRM-2024-021-A, OF OCTOBER 17, 2024
Article 1.- Substitute Article 1 of Resolution No. JPRM-2024-021-A, of October 17, 2024, with the following text:
“Article 1. Express our deep sorrow for the loss of our colleague officials from the security area, Ilario Erwin Arias Ruiz and Armando José Zabala Zurita, and the most sincere solidarity with their families and coworkers; as well as, with all the servants of the Central Bank of Ecuador who, on October 9, 2024, were cowardly ambushed by a group of criminals.”
Article 2.- Substitute the first paragraph of Article 3 of Resolution No. JPRM-2024-021-A, of October 17, 2024, with the following text:
“Article 3. In consideration of the professionalism and commitment of the officials of the Central Bank of Ecuador who, with their bravery and technical capacity, frustrated the aforementioned criminal act, order the creation of the ‘Arias – Zabala Outstanding Performance Recognition’.”
Article 3.- Substitute the second paragraph of Article 4 of Resolution No. JPRM-2024-021-A, of October 17, 2024, with the following text:
“Order the placement of a commemorative plaque in the Main Headquarters in Quito; as well as in the Zonal Sub-Manageries of Guayaquil and Cuenca, of the Central Bank of Ecuador,
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where the names of the members of the Central Bank of Ecuador team who participated in the aforementioned operation and are detailed below shall be displayed:”.
Article 4.- Substitute Article 5 of Resolution No. JPRM-2024-021-A, of October 17, 2024, with the following text:
“Article 5. Name the following institutional spaces of the Zonal Sub-Manageries of the Central Bank of Ecuador:
Article 5.- Following Article 5 of Resolution No. JPRM-2024-021-A, of October 17, 2024, add the following text:
“SINGLE GENERAL PROVISION: The General Manager of the Central Bank of Ecuador, through administrative disposition, shall designate the areas responsible for the implementation of this resolution and their respective deadlines.”
SINGLE TRANSITORY PROVISION. - Within a period of one (1) month, from the publication of this resolution, the Administrative and Financial Management of the Central Bank of Ecuador, through the Talent Administration Sub-Managerie, shall draft the instructions for the annual granting of the “Arias - Zabala Outstanding Performance Recognition” in accordance with internal procedures.
SINGLE REPEALING PROVISION. - The single transitory provision of Resolution No. JPRM-2024-021-A, of October 17, 2024, is hereby repealed.
FINAL PROVISION. - This resolution shall enter into force from its issuance, without prejudice to its subsequent publication in the Official Register.
The General Secretariat of the Central Bank of Ecuador is entrusted with its publication on the institutional website.
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COMMUNICATE AND PUBLISH. - Given in the city of Quito D.M., on August 28, 2025.
THE PRESIDENT Dr. TATIANA MARIBEL RODRÍGUEZ CERÓN
The aforementioned resolution was signed by Dr. Tatiana Maribel Rodríguez Cerón - President of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, in the Metropolitan District of Quito, on August 28, 2025.- I CERTIFY.
ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY Mgs. MARÍA ALEXANDRA GUERRERO DEL POZO