BCB Resolution No. 194 — Establishes rules and criteria for circulating medium sanitation services

CIRCULAR

BCB RESOLUTION NO. 194, OF FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Establishes rules and criteria to be adopted in the execution of circulating medium sanitation services by the Custodian Institution and institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil that perform circulating medium operations, holders of Reserve Bank accounts or Settlement Accounts.

The Collegiate Board of the Central Bank of Brazil, in a session held on February 23, 2022, based on art. 10, item II, of Law No. 4.595, of December 31, 1964, and in view of art. 10 of Law No. 8.697, of August 27, 1993,

RESOLVES:

CHAPTER I
OF THE OBJECT AND DEFINITIONS

Art. 1. This Resolution establishes rules and criteria to be adopted in the execution of circulating medium sanitation services.

Art. 2. The execution of circulating medium sanitation services, as provided for in this Resolution, covers the set of actions adopted by the Central Bank of Brazil, by the Custodian Institution, and by institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil that perform circulating medium operations, holders of Reserve Bank accounts or Settlement Accounts, with the objective of ensuring that banknotes and metallic coins made available to the public are genuine and present quality levels that meet the minimum requirements defined by the Central Bank of Brazil.

Art. 3. The Circulating Medium System (CIR) is the interconnected set of control systems in which circulating medium operations performed by institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil, among themselves and with the Central Bank of Brazil or with the Custodian Institution, are recorded and processed.

CHAPTER II
OF OPERATIONS IN THE CIR

Art. 4. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil must register in the CIR, through specific messages defined in the Catalog of Services of the National Financial System, and in accordance with current regulation, all cash movement operations, including:

I - withdrawals, deposits, and cash exchanges, carried out in the premises of the Custodian Institution or directly at the Central Bank of Brazil;

II - remittances of cash for legitimacy and valuation examination, directly to the Central Bank of Brazil; and

III - deposits or remittances of banknotes suspected of being damaged by anti-theft devices to the Central Bank of Brazil and to the Custodian Institution.

Sole Paragraph. The formalization of the requests for the operations referred to in this article, as well as the veracity and confidentiality of the information provided through electronic messages, are the direct and exclusive responsibility of the institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil.

CHAPTER III
OF THE EXECUTION OF CIRCULATING MEDIUM SANITATION SERVICES

Art. 5. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil, when classifying cash in deposit or exchange operations, must evaluate the existence of dirt, stains, wear, and damage that affect their integrity, and package them according to rules and procedures established in specific norms of the Circulating Medium Department (Mecir) of the Central Bank of Brazil.

§ 1. Companies and agents contracted by institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil for the execution of circulating medium services must comply with the criteria and procedures established in the specific norm of Mecir, with the responsibility of the authorized institution remaining for any non-compliance.

§ 2. Any discrepancies found by the Custodian Institution or by the Central Bank of Brazil, upon processing cash resulting from a deposit or exchange operation, will be credited or debited, as appropriate, to the Reserve Bank account or the Settlement Account of the institution requesting the operation.

Art. 6. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil that perform circulating medium operations must accept from the general public and replace, free of charge, at their full value, or accept in payments or deposits, national banknotes that fall under one or more of the following criteria:

I - a banknote of full size that presents marks, characters, or foreign elements that distort its original characteristics or its security elements;

II - a banknote represented by a fragment of a banknote that, alone, presents an area greater than 50% (fifty percent) of its original dimensions;

III - a banknote represented by two fragments of the same banknote, which present, in each, the identical and complete numbering of the banknote and together make up an area greater than 50% (fifty percent) of its original dimensions.

§ 1. The banknotes referred to in this article must be forwarded by the authorized institutions to the Custodian Institution for deposit or exchange and subsequent destruction at the Central Bank of Brazil.

§ 2. Fragments of national banknotes will lose their value and will not be exchanged by the Central Bank of Brazil or by authorized institutions when they do not meet the requirements provided for in items II and III of the caput (see examples in Annex I).

§ 3. Banknotes reconstituted by a fragment of a counterfeit banknote will also lose their value and will not be exchanged, even if the legitimate part has more than half of the original dimensions.

Art. 7. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil that identify, in any of their operations, national metallic coins that are bent, crushed, corroded, cut, pierced, fused, or fragments of national metallic coins with dimensions and weight greater than 50% (fifty percent) of the original standards must forward them to the Central Bank of Brazil for examination, separated by face value and packaged according to its own regulation.

Art. 8. National metallic coins will lose their value and will not be exchanged by the Central Bank of Brazil when they fall under one or more of the situations listed below (see examples in Annex II):

I - dimensions or weight equal to or less than 50% (fifty percent) of the dimensions or weight of the original standards;

II - isolated rings originating from bimetallic coins; or

III - in visual examination, they cannot be identified as coins, due to damage caused by excessive use or by damage of another nature.

CHAPTER IV
OF FORWARDING FOR EXAMINATION OF BANKNOTES OR METALLIC COINS

Art. 9. If doubts persist regarding the preservation of value, institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil that perform circulating medium operations must accept from the general public fragments of banknotes or metallic coins and forward them to the Central Bank of Brazil for examination, and must also:

I - request the identification of the presenter and provide a receipt;

II - register, in their own computerized system, the data of the presenter and the information regarding the fragment of the banknote or the metallic coin and send them to the Central Bank of Brazil through a specific message of the Catalog of Services of the National Financial System;

III - forward the accepted values directly to the Central Bank of Brazil for examination, packaged separately from the others, observing the areas of operation of the regional representations of Mecir and specific regulation, as defined in its own normative;

IV - inform the presenter about the progress of the examination process, if so requested, reimbursing them for the value that may be due to them.

Art. 10. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil may refrain from receiving, from the general public, national banknotes or metallic coins that do not have value, as they do not meet the requirements provided for in this Resolution.

CHAPTER V
FINAL PROVISIONS

Art. 11. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil must adopt measures that ensure the payment of legitimate cash to users of their services, regardless of the modality used for this operation.

Art. 12. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil may transfer national banknotes and metallic coins among themselves.

Sole Paragraph. The Central Bank of Brazil will not interfere in the process of physical movement of cash.

Art. 13. The valuation criteria for banknotes will also be valid for damages caused by anti-theft devices, regardless of the technology used, observing specific regulation.

Art. 14. In the event of a contingency of the Reserve Transfer System (STR), the Central Bank of Brazil will adopt the necessary measures to maintain the normal flow of circulating medium operations.

Art. 15. Institutions authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil that perform circulating medium operations must register and keep updated, in the Information System on Entities of Interest of the Central Bank of Brazil (Unicad), the registration data, including the electronic address, of the statutory director responsible for compliance with the provisions of this Resolution.

Sole Paragraph. There is no prohibition for the director responsible for the circulating medium area to perform other functions in the institution.

Art. 16. Financial institutions that offer the public withdrawal, deposit, and payment services must disclose, in their premises and in the premises of correspondents in the country, in a visible location and in a legible format, the information referred to in arts. 6 to 8, including in areas where service is provided through automated equipment.

Art. 17. Mecir is authorized to issue complementary acts necessary for the compliance with the provisions of this Resolution.

Art. 18. The following are revoked:

I - Circular No. 3,109, of April 10, 2002; and

II - Circular No. 3,490, of March 23, 2010.

Art. 19. This Resolution enters into force on April 1, 2022.

Carolina de Assis Barros
Director of Administration

ANNEX I TO BCB RESOLUTION NO. 194, OF FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Examples of banknote fragments without value (art. 6, § 2)

ANNEX II TO BCB RESOLUTION NO. 194, OF FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Examples of metallic coins without value (art. 8)