Circular 1/2012 of the Bank of Spain to Payment Service Providers on Reporting Rules for Cross-Border Economic Transactions

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Circular 1/2012, of February 29, of the Bank of Spain, to payment service providers, on rules for the communication of economic transactions with the outside world. (BOE of March 6)

Royal Decree 1360/2011, of October 7, which modifies Royal Decree 1816/1991, of December 20, and Order EHA/2670/2011, of October 7, which modifies the Order of December 27, 1991, developing Royal Decree 1816/1991, of December 20, have modified the regime for the declaration of economic transactions with the outside world. Both norms continue to entrust the Bank of Spain with the collection of information on said transactions, albeit with different content than previously established. Specifically:

– Article 4 of the Order of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of December 27, 1991, on economic transactions with the outside world, empowers the Bank of Spain to establish the procedure regarding operations for the sending and receipt of Spanish banknotes by entities registered with their banking correspondents abroad.

– Likewise, Article 5 establishes the obligation for registered entities to declare cross-border receipts and payments in which they intervene or in cases of credits and debits on accounts of non-resident clients, and empowers the Bank of Spain to establish the procedure and frequency of the information to be sent by these entities.

– For its part, Article 8 subjects said entities, in the cases of operations, transactions, acts, or business with non-residents, as well as in variations in accounts or financial positions, debtor or creditor, vis-à-vis the outside world, to the obligation to provide the competent bodies of the State Administration and the Bank of Spain with the data requested from them, in the form, periodicity, and amount determined, for the purposes of administrative, tax, and statistical monitoring of the operations.

It is therefore necessary to promulgate a new circular that replaces circulars 15/1992, of July 22, and 1/1994, of February 25, which regulated the rules for communication to the Bank of Spain of said operations by registered entities under the regime established previously.

Therefore, in exercise of the powers granted, the Governing Council of the Bank of Spain, upon proposal of the Executive Committee, has approved this Circular, which contains the following rules:

First Rule.

Obligation to report.

The provisions of this Circular apply to payment service providers registered in the official registers of the Bank of Spain.

Second Rule.

Periodicity and content of the information.

Payment service providers are obliged to inform the Bank of Spain on a monthly basis, within ten business days following the end of each month, of the operations indicated below:

1. Cross-border receipts and payments, as well as transfers to or from abroad, denominated in euros or foreign currency, carried out on behalf of their clients, when said receipts and payments originate from or are destined to accounts opened with a payment service provider in other Member States of the European Union or in any other country. Operations whose holders are other payment service providers will not be included.

2. Credits and debits in accounts of their non-resident clients. Movements of accounts whose holders are other payment service providers will not be included.

3. Sendings and receipts of euro banknotes and coins to/from their foreign correspondents.

In the case of the operations detailed in points 1 and 2 above, the information to be supplied by payment service providers shall contain: the client's identification (name or corporate name, tax ID of the resident, and country of residence of the non-resident); amount, currency, and country of origin or destination; information on the debit and credit accounts, as well as other available data, provided that their collection does not impact the automated direct processing of payments and can be performed automatically. These data will be specified in the "technical applications" of this Circular.

In the case of the operations described in point 3, the following data regarding the remittances shall be provided: date of sending or receipt, dates of debit or credit to the account, amounts of banknotes and coins classified by denomination, and identification of the foreign correspondent and the customs office or border post through which the remittance is effected.

Third Rule.

Status report.

Payment service providers that are not going to carry out the operations detailed in the previous rule, due to lacking the detailed operational capacity, are obliged to notify this to the Bank of Spain in the manner established in the "technical applications" of this Circular.

Fourth Rule.

Submission of information.

The information must be sent to the Statistics Department of the Bank of Spain, by telematic means, in accordance with the formats, conditions, and requirements established in the "technical applications" of this Circular. An updated version of these specifications will be maintained on the Bank of Spain's website, freely accessible via the Internet.

It will be possible to submit, in a single "telematic support", different files, containing the information of several reporting entities. In this case, all entities must be individually identified.

Fifth Rule.

Minimum exempt from declaration.

The operations referred to in the second rule of this Circular, in sections 1 and 2, will not be reported when their amount in euros or its equivalent in another currency is equal to or less than 50,000 euros, or the amount determined at any time by current legislation, provided they do not constitute split payments.

Sixth Rule.

Identification of clients in accounts opened with deposit institutions in Spain.

1. At the time of opening current, savings, or term accounts for clients, deposit institutions must identify the account holder in euros or foreign currency and record their status as a resident or non-resident in Spain.

2. The accreditation of said status must be carried out in the manner provided for in Article 2 of Royal Decree 1816/1991, of December 20, on economic transactions with the outside world.

3. Institutions will modify the classification of affected accounts when they are aware that changes have occurred in the resident or non-resident status in Spain of the client holders thereof.

Seventh Rule.

Transitional regime.

Registered entities that, prior to the entry into force of this Circular, were obliged to provide the information required in accordance with circulars 15/1992, of July 22, and 1/1994, of February 25, must continue to provide and declare it until the one corresponding to December 31, 2013, without prejudice to compliance with the obligations established in this Circular.

Eighth Rule.

Repealing provision.

Circulars 15/1992, of July 22, and 1/1994, of February 25, shall be repealed effective January 1, 2014.

Ninth Rule.

Entry into force.

This Circular shall enter into force on June 1, 2012.

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