JPRM-2024-006-G — Public Consultation: Draft Interoperability Standard for Immediate Low-Value Payment Systems

RESOLUTION No. JPRM-2024-006-G THE MONETARY AND FINANCIAL POLICY BOARD CONSIDERING: That, Article 226 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador prescribes that public servants and persons acting by virtue of state power shall exercise only the competencies and faculties attributed to them in the Constitution and the Law; That, Article 227 ibidem states that the Public Administration constitutes a service to the community governed by the principles of efficiency, quality, hierarchy, coordination, planning, among others; That, numeral 1 of Article 302 ut supra determines that: “Monetary, credit, exchange, and financial policies shall have as objectives: 1. To supply the necessary means of payment so that the economic system operates with efficiency. (…)”; That, the first clause of Article 303 of the Constitution of the Republic determines that the formulation of monetary, credit, exchange, and financial policies is the exclusive faculty of the Executive Branch and shall be implemented through the Central Bank of Ecuador; That, Article 47.1 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code creates the Monetary and Financial Policy Board, as part of the Executive Branch, responsible for the formulation of monetary policy, the highest governing body of the Central Bank of Ecuador, and determines its composition; That, Article 47.6 of the same Code, regarding the functions of the Monetary and Financial Policy Board, among others, establishes: “1. Formulate policy in the monetary sphere and observe its application by the Central Bank of Ecuador, to preserve the integrity and sustainability of the dollarization monetary system and the financial system, in accordance with the provisions of this Code; (…) 7. Formulate the policy of the operations of the Central Bank of Ecuador; (…) 12. Regulate the central payment system, as well as the regulation, permission, registration, surveillance, and supervision of auxiliary payment systems; (...) and, 26. Those others conferred by law. (...)”; That, Article 105 of the aforementioned Code provides: “Auxiliary payment systems are the set of policies, norms, instruments, procedures, and services, articulated and coordinated, public or private, authorized by the Central Bank of Ecuador, established to effect transfers of resources, remittances of money, or compensation among their different participants”;

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That, Article 109 of the aforementioned Organic Code determines: “The Central Bank of Ecuador shall carry out the surveillance and supervision of auxiliary payment systems and their administrative entities, as well as any payment infrastructure or monetary resource transfer infrastructure that operates in the market, to ensure the correct functioning of the channels, instruments, and means of payment processed through them. The Monetary and Financial Policy Board shall adopt regulations to determine the operation, governance, risk control, and financial requirements that auxiliary payment systems and their administrative agencies must comply with. Administrators of auxiliary payment systems, including any payment infrastructure or monetary resource transfer infrastructure, for their operation must have authorization from the Central Bank of Ecuador, and are obligated to submit the information requested by it and within the deadlines determined. (...)”; That, by Resolution No. JPRM-2023-014-M, of August 7, 2023, the Monetary and Financial Policy Board issued the “Norm that regulates currency, means and payment systems in Ecuador and the Fintech activities of its participants”; That, the Operating Regulations of the Monetary and Financial Policy Board issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2021-003-A, of November 4, 2021, and reformed by Resolution No. JPRM-2023-016-A, of September 28, 2023, in its Article 8 establishes the following: “(…) At the request of its President or one of its members, considering the relevance of the topic to be addressed, the Monetary and Financial Policy Board may establish that any policy or regulation project, prior to its approval process, be submitted to public consultation by citizens and public and private actors, in order to gather observations, comments, inputs, or suggestions that enrich its treatment. The adopted decision will order the publication of an extract of the policy or regulation project on the website of the Central Bank of Ecuador, establishing a peremptory deadline to receive contributions, which shall not be less than seven days nor more than thirty days. Without prejudice to what is established in this article, the Monetary and Financial Policy Board may adopt other initiatives aimed at socializing and guaranteeing citizen participation in the formulation of public policies, such as the holding of technical workshops, conversations, working groups, among others.”;

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That, Article 8.1 of the aforementioned Regulations establishes the public consultation process for policy or regulation projects, in the following terms: “During the period established by the Monetary and Financial Policy Board, observations, comments, inputs, or suggestions regarding the regulation project will be received, in the form and means determined for this purpose. The receipt and systematization of citizen observations will be the responsibility of the Administrative Secretariat of the Monetary and Financial Policy Board. Proposals submitted to the Monetary and Financial Policy Board must necessarily contain the identification information of the sender and must deal exclusively with the subject matter of the policy or regulation project put out for public consultation. All documents or information considered necessary to support or motivate the observations, comments, or suggestions made to the regulatory project may be attached. Once the deadline for receiving observations has concluded, the Administrative Secretariat will forward to the Central Bank of Ecuador the proposals that have met the established requirements, so that, within a term of fifteen days, a technical-legal report is issued in which the observations are evaluated, the technical and legal viability and pertinence are analyzed; and, the Monetary and Financial Policy Board is recommended whether or not to incorporate the contributions into the policy or regulation project under analysis. The observations or comments received at this stage are not binding, and the Monetary and Financial Policy Board may, based on its regulatory competence, accept or reject the comments that have been sent and admitted within the public consultation period.”; That, the Monetary and Financial Policy Board, in an extraordinary session, by mixed modality, on March 15, 2024, reviewed the proposal submitted via Memorandum No. BCE-BCE-2024-0070-M, of March 14, 2024, by the General Manager of the Central Bank of Ecuador to the President of the Monetary and Financial Policy Board, as well as, the Technical Report No. BCE-SGSERV-2024-015 / BCE-DNSP-2024-164, of March 13, 2024; and, the Legal Report No. BCE-CGJ-016-2024, of March 13, 2024; In exercise of its functions and in attention to Article 47.6 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code, the Monetary and Financial Policy Board: RESOLVES Article 1. Submit to public consultation the draft Interoperability Standard for Immediate Low-Value Payment Systems, for a period of thirty (30) days counted from the present date, under the protection of what is established in Articles 8 and

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8.1 of the Operating Regulations of the Monetary and Financial Policy Board issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2021-003-A, of November 4, 2021, and reformed by Resolution No. JPRM-2023-016-A, of September 28, 2023. Article 2. Order the Central Bank of Ecuador to publish on its institutional website the draft Interoperability Standard for Immediate Low-Value Payment Systems, as well as the necessary information to guarantee citizen participation, and establish the channels and means by which observations, comments, inputs, or suggestions regarding the regulation project will be received by the citizenry. FINAL PROVISION.- This resolution shall enter into force from its issuance, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Register. Its publication on the institutional website is entrusted to the Document Management and Archive Directorate of the Central Bank of Ecuador. COMMUNICATE AND PUBLISH. - Given in the Metropolitan District of Quito, on March 15, 2024. THE PRESIDENT Dr. TATIANA MARIBEL RODRÍGUEZ CERÓN The preceding resolution was signed by Dr. Tatiana Maribel Rodríguez Cerón - President of the Monetary and Financial Policy Board, in the Metropolitan District of Quito, on March 15, 2024.- I CERTIFY. ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY Attorney MARÍA ALEXANDRA GUERRERO DEL POZO