2007-01-01

Circular No. 43 New Credit Inquiry Service

The Palestine Monetary Authority issued Circular No. 43/2007 to mandate updates and clarifications for banks participating in the new Credit Inquiry Service. The circular postpones the initial data submission deadline to allow for an extended trial period while introducing specific reporting requirements, including standardized currency codes, revised borrower and facility file structures, and precise disclosure rules for overdrafts, guarantees, and legal statuses. Banks are instructed to replace previous annex tables, adopt semi-monthly reporting per branch, and utilize designated text file formatting with semicolon delimiters and Windows Arabic encoding for all mandatory fields.

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Palestine Monetary Authority

Palestine Monetary Authority

Circular No. (43/2007) To all banks operating in Palestine Date: Wednesday, 14 March 2007

Subject: New Credit Inquiry Service

In the context of the continuous work undertaken by the Palestine Monetary Authority in cooperation with banks to develop the credit inquiry service, and as a result of field visits and telephone communications with bank management to assess their readiness on this matter, the Palestine Monetary Authority appreciates and highly values the efforts made by banks to comply with the new service instructions. In light of this, and given the need to extend the trial period for a short additional time, the dates specified in our meetings with you to provide us with the disk containing customers' personal and financial data are postponed to a later date, which will be notified to you in writing.

In this context, and to clarify inquiries raised by some banks during field visits regarding the new service instructions, and in accordance with our Circular No. (22) issued on 31/01/2007, all banks are requested to take the following into consideration:

  1. Use internationally recognized symbols to disclose the currency type in the new service forms.
  2. Disclose the company's capital and capital currency code in the corporate borrowers' file according to its registration with the Companies Registrar/Controller.
  3. The "Guarantee Value" item is removed from the corporate guarantors' file according to the new attached file.
  4. Disclose the customer's landline or mobile phone, whichever is available, in the resident and non-resident borrowers' files according to the new attached forms.
  5. The tourism sector is added to the economic sectors as stated in the new Annex No. (2) attached herewith.
  6. New types of financing and banking facilities are added as stated in the new Annex No. (4) attached herewith.

Palestine Monetary Authority

Palestine Monetary Authority

  1. Holders of Jerusalem or Israeli IDs are considered residents solely for the purposes of the credit inquiry service, without prejudice to other Palestine Monetary Authority instructions requiring prior approval for granting facilities to non-residents.
  2. Granted banking facilities are disclosed without specifying ceilings, within the "Amount Granted" field in the facilities file.
  3. Use the symbols specified in the attached Annex No. (7) to disclose the type of periodic installment for repaying granted facilities.
  4. Some personal and classification data for borrower types have been added as stated in the attached Annex No. (1).
  5. Overdraft accounts valued at USD 100 or more, or their equivalent in other currencies, must be disclosed. Note that only overdraft accounts with an overdrawn period exceeding (5) working days are required to be disclosed.
  6. The average of principal and interest repayment installments in reducing loans is considered the monthly installment to be disclosed in the facilities file.
  7. Disclose the customer's legal status in the facilities file according to the symbols provided in the new attached Annex No. (8).
  8. Disclose the full value of the granted facility without rounding to any decimal. Compliance is required to disclose the facility value, corresponding guarantee, and corresponding allocated provision in the same currency as the grant, according to the Palestine Monetary Authority's monthly exchange rates.
  9. The economic sector item is removed from the borrower description file, as it has been added to the facilities file for borrowers according to the new attached form.
  10. Disclose the following data for personal guarantors in the borrowers' file (residents and non-residents):
    • a. ID Number.
    • b. Full Name.
    • c. Mother's Name.
    • d. Date of Birth.
    • e. Place of Birth.

Palestine Monetary Authority

Palestine Monetary Authority

For disclosure in the Text File, the value zero (0) is used for numeric fields if data is unavailable, while the symbol (N/A) is used for text fields if data is unavailable. 17. Disclose the bank's total facilities per branch individually as usual, on a semi-monthly basis according to the attached facilities description file. The Palestine Monetary Authority will specify the periodic disclosure date. 18. Companies registered with the Israeli Companies Registrar, operating in Palestinian Authority areas, and registered with the Palestinian Companies Controller/Registrar are considered solely for credit inquiry service purposes; otherwise, they are treated as non-resident companies.

Based on the above, we request that you adopt these amendments and replace the attached tables with the tables you currently hold as an annex to our previous Circular No. (22) issued on 31/01/2007. Do not hesitate to contact Mr. Ali Faroun, extension (168), or Mr. Rami Samara, extension (246), to answer your inquiries and comments.

Dr. Sami Matar Banking Supervision Department Palestine Monetary Authority


Corporate Borrowers File Description

Seq.Field NameNote
1Company Reg. NumberCompany Registration Number with the Companies Controller
2Company’s NameCompany Name
3Establishment DateEstablishment Date in English numerals in (dd/mm/yyyy) format
4Registration DateRegistration Date in English numerals in (dd/mm/yyyy) format
5Headquarter AddressCompany Headquarters Address
6Resident/ none Resident1 Registered company 2 Unregistered company
7Legal CapitalAuthorized Capital
Currency codeCurrency Code

Corporate Guarantors File Description

Seq.Field NameNote
1Company Reg. NumberCompany Registration Number
2Guarantor’s IDGuarantor ID or Passport Number
3Guarantor’s NameGuarantor Name
4Share in CapitalShare in Capital Percentage

Resident Borrowers File Description

Seq.Field NameNote
1ID NumberID Number (for resident borrower)
2Customer’s NameFull Name as stated on ID card
3GenderGender 1 Male 2 Female
4Marital StatusMarital Status 1 Single 2 Married 3 Divorced 4 Widowed
5Date of BirthDate of Birth in English numerals in (dd/mm/yyyy) format
6Place of BirthPlace of Birth
7Spouse’s NameSpouse's Name
8Mother’s NameMother's Name
9Current AddressCurrent Address
10Previous AddressPrevious Address
11Phone Number/ cellularHome/ Mobile Phone Number
12ProfessionBorrower's Profession
13Spouse’s ProfessionSpouse's Profession
14Borrower TypeBorrower Type (Annex No. 1)

Non-Resident Borrowers File Description

Seq.Field NameNote
1Passport NumberPassport Number
2NationalityNationality according to the international country code
3Customer’s NameFull Name as stated in passport in Arabic letters
4Date of BirthDate of Birth in English numerals in (dd/mm/yyyy) format
5Place of BirthPlace of Birth
6Data of IssueDate of Issue in English numerals in (dd/mm/yyyy) format
7Place of IssuePlace of Issue
8GenderGender 1 Male 2 Female
9Marital StatusMarital Status 1 Single 2 Married 3 Divorced 4 Widowed
10Spouse’s NameSpouse's Name
11Mother’s NameMother's Name
12Current AddressCurrent Address
13Previous AddressPrevious Address
14Phone Number/ cellularHome/ Mobile Phone Number
15ProfessionBorrower's Profession
16Spouse’s ProfessionSpouse's Profession
17Borrower TypeBorrower Type (Annex No. 1)

Facilities File Description

Seq.Field NameNote
1Customer IDID Number, Passport, Company Registration
2Customer TypeEnter 0 for residents or companies; enter nationality code per international coding for non-residents
3Facility CategoryFacility Classification (Annex No. 3)
4Bank NumberIssuing Bank Number
5Branch NumberIssuing Branch Number
6MonthMonth in numerals (MM)
7YearYear in numerals (YYYY)
8ReportReporting Period: First Half (1), Second Half (2)
9Facility TypeFacility Type (Annex No. 4)
10CurrencyGrant Currency
11Economic SectonEconomic Sector (Annex No. 2)
12Customer StatusCustomer Status assessment per Circular 121 (Annex No. 5)
13Credit LimitGranted Ceiling
14Used BalanceUtilized Balance
15Allocated ProvisionAllocated Provision Amount
16Granted DateFacility Grant Date
17Last Installment Due DateLast Installment Due Date
18Unpaid due installmentsValue of Unpaid Due Installments
19Installment FrequencyPeriodic Installment Type (Annex No. 7)
20Installment ValuePeriodic Installment Value
21Legal ProceduresLegal Actions Taken Against Customer (Annex No. 8)
Seq.Field NameNote
22Number of InstallmentsNumber of Granted Facility Installments
23Last Installment Paid DateDate of Last Paid Installment
24G1Value of First Guarantee (Annex No. 6)
25G2
26G3
27G4
28G5
29G6
30G7
31G8
32G9
33G10
34G11
35G12
36G13
37G14
38G15
39G16
40G17
41G18
42G19

Important Notes:

  1. Data in files sent by the bank must match the sequence above, using a semicolon (;) as a delimiter.
  2. When sending as a TXT file, the Windows Arabic Code page must be used in the file to write names and addresses in Arabic.
  3. All fields in the tables are mandatory. If information is unavailable, leave the relevant field blank while keeping the semicolon (;) in its designated position.
  4. Bank numbers used in the file are the currently assigned bank numbers.