Agreement No. 008-2020 Modifying Articles 8 and 13 of Agreement No. 3-2008 on Complaint Procedures Before the Superintendence

Republic of Panama
Superintendence of Banks
AGREEMENT No. 008-2020
(July 16, 2020)
"Modifying Articles 8 and 13 of Agreement No. 3-2008 on the Procedure for Handling Complaints Before the Superintendence"

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

In exercise of its legal powers, and

CONSIDERING:

That following the issuance of Law Decree No. 2 of February 22, 2008, the Executive Branch prepared a systematic ordering in the form of a single text of Law Decree No. 9 of February 26, 1998, and all its modifications, which was approved through Executive Decree No. 52 of April 30, 2008, hereinafter the Banking Law;

That in accordance with numeral 5 of Article 11 of the Banking Law, it is a technical attribute of the Board of Directors to establish, within the administrative sphere, the interpretation and scope of legal or regulatory provisions in banking matters;

That in accordance with Article 198 of the Banking Law, the Superintendence of Banks is granted exclusive competence to hear and protect the rights of the banking consumer;

That in accordance with what is established in Article 8 of Agreement No. 3-2008 of July 24, 2008, the Superintendence shall forward the complaint presented by the banking consumer to the bank;

That in accordance with what is established in Article 13 of Agreement No. 3-2008 of July 24, 2008, notifications to the parties shall be made by edict, except for resolutions that accept and resolve the complaint, which shall be notified personally;

That in order to align regulatory requirements with the current threat situation of the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) within the national territory, it is necessary to make regulatory adjustments to the current regulations, with the aim of streamlining processes for handling complaints before the Superintendence of Banks;

That in working sessions of this Board of Directors, the need and convenience of modifying Articles 8 and 13 of Agreement No. 3-2008 has been highlighted.

AGREES:

ARTICLE 1. Article 8 of Agreement No. 3-2008 of July 24, 2008, is hereby amended as follows:

"ARTICLE 8. FORWARDING AND RESPONSE. The Superintendence shall forward the complaint to the bank via email, so that it may respond within a period of five (5) business days. With its response, the bank must attach a complete copy of the procedure or management that its Complaint Handling System gave to said complaint.

Agreement No. 008-2020

From the forwarding response document by the bank and the evidence provided, a receipt shall be issued via email and the validity of the attached documents shall be recognized. After the forwarding response is sent by the bank, it may not attach any additional documents. The Superintendence may request additional documentation or require evidence ex officio."

ARTICLE 2. Article 13 of Agreement No. 3-2008 of July 24, 2008, is hereby amended as follows:

"ARTICLE 13. NOTIFICATIONS. Notifications to the parties shall be made by edict, except for the Resolution that accepts and the one that resolves the complaint, which shall be notified via email or personally. In the case of notifications made by edict, a scanned copy shall be sent via email to the parties. The Resolution that accepts and the one that resolves the complaint may be documents signed with a qualified electronic signature. The Edicts shall be posted in a visible place in the Office for a term of three (3) business days. The Edicts shall be added to the file with the expression of the day and time of their posting and removal. The corresponding notification shall produce legal effects from the date and time of removal, and the term for enforceability shall begin to count on the next business day after removal. When a Resolution that must be notified personally is adopted, efforts shall be made to notify the interested parties during business hours. If any of the interested parties are not found at the indicated address, a record shall be left in a Report that shall be added to the file, a copy of the Resolution shall be sent via email, which shall produce the effects of a personal notification. In all complaints, both the consumer and the regulated subject, in their first action, must indicate an email address to which notifications will be sent."

ARTICLE 3. VALIDITY. This Agreement shall enter into force from its promulgation.

Given in the city of Panama, on the sixteenth (16) day of the month of July, 2020.

NOTIFY, PUBLISH, AND COMPLY.

THE PRESIDENT THE SECRETARY
Luis Alberto La Rocca Nicolás Ardito Barletta