Circular to Banks and the National Office of Posts No. 11 for 2022

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Tunis, 18 November 2022 Circular to Banks and the National Office of Posts No. 11 for 2022 Subject: Campaign Accounts for Candidates in Legislative Elections.

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The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, having examined:

• The Organic Law No. 2012-23 dated 20 December 2012 concerning the Independent High Authority for Elections (INAE) and all subsequent amending and supplementary texts;
• The Organic Law No. 2014-16 dated 26 May 2014 concerning elections and all subsequent amending and supplementary texts, particularly Decree No. 2022-55 dated 15 September 2022;
• The Law No. 2016-35 dated 25 April 2016 concerning the basic system of the Central Bank of Tunisia;
• The Law No. 2016-48 dated 11 July 2016 concerning banks and financial institutions;
• The INAE Decision No. 2014-20 dated 8 August 2014 concerning the regulation of campaign financing rules, procedures, and methods, as amended by Decision No. 2017-17 dated 23 October 2017 and Decision No. 2022-30 dated 11 November 2022;
• The Central Bank Circular to Banks No. 2019-05 dated 7 August 2019 concerning the opening of campaign accounts for candidate lists in legislative elections;
• The Compliance Committee Opinion No. 2022-11 dated 17 November 2022, provided for in Article 42 of Law No. 2016-35;

decrees the following:

Article 1: Banks and the National Office of Posts (ONP) must open a single campaign account for each candidate in legislative elections. The account is opened by the candidate or any other person authorized via a specific power of attorney, identified and signed, at a bank branch or post office. The candidate or the financial agent (if appointed) shall manage, operate, and close the single campaign account in accordance with prevailing regulations. Banks and ONP are prohibited from opening more than one campaign account per candidate.

Article 2: Before opening the campaign account, banks and ONP must verify via the Central Bank's data exchange system that no existing campaign account bears the candidate's name.

Article 3: The campaign account is opened according to prevailing regulations based on the following documents:

1. Original or certified copy of the INAE decision accepting the candidate's nomination.
2. Certified copy of the official document proving the candidate's identity.
3. If a financial agent is appointed to operate the account: original or certified copy of the candidate's decision appointing the financial agent; original or certified copy of the financial agent's acceptance of the role; certified copy of the official document proving the financial agent's identity.
4. Original or certified copy of the power of attorney for opening the campaign account on behalf of the candidate (if a proxy is appointed specifically for opening).
5. Certified copy of the official document proving the identity of the proxy responsible for opening the campaign account on behalf of the candidate.

Article 4: The campaign account is funded exclusively by the following resources:

1. Dinar transfers originating from: the candidate's internal accounts (for self-financing); or the internal accounts of Tunisian natural persons residing in Tunisia (for campaign financing).
2. Financial amounts deposited by the candidate or financial agent as self-financing or campaign financing, in cash or via checks. In this case, the deposit slip must clearly state on the reverse side the full identity of the candidate or financial agent (name, surname, national ID number, and issue date), along with their signature. Transfers from legal entities of all kinds are prohibited, as are transfers from foreign natural persons, even if they reside in Tunisia or have Tunisian-sourced income under tax legislation. The bank branch or post office holding the campaign account must provide the candidate or financial agent with a sufficient number of checkbooks within three working days of receiving their written request, along with a single debit card limited to the available account balance. Attention is drawn to the prior consultation of the Central Bank's information center regarding the status of the candidate or financial agent before issuing check forms, in accordance with Central Bank Circular No. 2007-18 dated 5 July 2007 concerning the application of commercial code provisions on checks, as amended.

Article 5: Banks and ONP must open a single convertible Dinar campaign account for candidates in legislative elections representing constituencies abroad. The convertible Dinar campaign account is funded exclusively by:

1. Transfers originating from foreign currency or convertible Dinar accounts held by the candidate at banks in Tunisia, or from their accounts abroad (for self-financing); or from foreign currency or convertible Dinar accounts held by Tunisian natural persons residing abroad at banks in Tunisia, or from their foreign accounts (for campaign financing). Transfers from legal entities of all kinds are prohibited, as are transfers from foreign natural persons (even if residing abroad or holding foreign currency/convertible Dinar income) and Tunisian natural persons under exchange regulations.
2. The Dinar equivalent of foreign currency amounts deposited by the candidate or financial agent as self-financing or campaign financing, in cash or via checks. The deposit slip must clearly state on the reverse side the full identity of the candidate or financial agent (name, surname, national ID number, and issue date), along with their signature. Depositing foreign currency in the form of banknotes requires presenting the original customs declaration for those banknotes, with a copy retained in the account file. The original customs declaration must state the amount deposited and its reference number. Upon request by the candidate or financial agent, the bank branch or post office must provide a single international debit card with no withdrawal limit (within the available balance) and cannot issue check forms for this account type. Except as provided in this Article, convertible Dinar campaign accounts remain subject to the remaining provisions of this Circular.

Article 6: No overdraft or advance of any kind may be granted to the candidate holding this campaign account.

Article 7: Banks and ONP must declare to the Central Bank, without delay, every opening of a campaign account in accordance with this Circular, via the Central Bank's data exchange system.

Article 8: Banks and ONP must initially provide the Central Bank with interim statements for legislative election campaign accounts from their opening until the end of the campaign, within 15 days following the campaign's conclusion. Subsequently, they must provide final statements from opening until closure, within 15 days following the account's closure. Statements must be submitted on paper (signed and stamped by an authorized bank or ONP representative) and via the Central Bank's data exchange system in Excel format. Upon account closure, banks and ONP must retrieve unused debit cards and check forms from the candidate or financial agent, taking necessary measures to complete pending transactions.

Article 9: Banks and ONP must designate a liaison officer to the Central Bank from among their management staff (manager rank or above), responsible for overseeing the implementation of this Circular, particularly by resolving difficulties encountered by candidates or financial agents in opening and managing campaign accounts promptly, collecting required account data from bank branches and post offices, and submitting it to the Central Bank within deadlines. A deputy with identical qualifications must be appointed. Banks and ONP must report the liaison officer's full identity, phone number, and email address to the Central Bank without delay by any written means.

Article 10: Banks and ONP must retain campaign account files and all documents related to their opening, management, closure, and supporting documents for transactions conducted through them, for a period of ten years from the date of closure.

Article 11: Provisions conflicting with or overlapping this Circular are repealed. This Circular enters into force upon its notification.

Governor, Marouan Abassi