BCB Resolution No. 210 — Regulates the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement (CCR)

Resolution No. 210

BCB RESOLUTION NO. 210, OF MARCH 22, 2022

Regulates the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement (CCR).

The Collegiate Board of the Central Bank of Brazil, in a session held on March 22, 2022, based on art. 11, item III, of Law No. 4.595, of December 31, 1964, having in view the provisions of art. 23 of Law No. 4,131, of September 3, 1962,

RESOLVES:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 1. This Resolution regulates the operations to be finalized within the scope of the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement (CCR), signed by the Central Bank of Brazil and the Central Banks of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Art. 2. For the purposes of this Resolution, the following definitions are established:

I - "Sicap/Aladi" Refund Code: identifier number of operations processed in the CCR;

II - business day: daily period in which operations of an authorized financial institution processed in the CCR can be inserted for consolidation in the Daily Summary, observing the deadline hours of 8h – 16h (eight to sixteen hours) of Brasília, with the exception of December 24 and 31, when its closure is advanced to 11h (eleven hours);

III - IFA: financial institution authorized by the central bank of a member country to make payments (deposits) and receive payments (refunds) through the CCR System;

IV - instrument: payment method processable by the CCR;

V - Daily Summary: result of the accounting of the rights and obligations of an IFA arising from its operations processed in the CCR, on each business day;

VI - Sicap/Aladi: Computerized System for Support to the CCR, which centralizes all operations in progress in the CCR, registered by the Central Bank of Brazil and the participating Central Banks of the CCR and is operated by the CCR Operations Center, which functions in the premises of the Central Bank of Reserves of Peru, under the coordination of the Latin American Integration Association (Aladi); and

VII - CCR System: information system of the Central Bank of Brazil dedicated to the records of CCR operations, operating in real time, integrated with the Sicap/Aladi System.

Sole paragraph. The Department of International Affairs (Derin) may alter the hours referred to in item II through a BCB normative instruction.

Art. 3. The CCR System allows, among other functionalities:

I - consultation of registered instruments and refunds and deposits made;

II - consultation of the Daily Summary, sent automatically to the IFA;

III - inclusion, alteration, and exclusion of instruments, as well as the reversal of refunds and the return of deposits, made erroneously; and

IV - consultation of the operational limit granted to the IFA.

§ 1. Communication between the CCR System and IFAs is carried out by messages defined in the Catalog of Services of the National Financial System.

§ 2. The inclusion referred to in item III of the main text is valid only for negotiations whose corresponding issuances were already registered in the CCR System before the validity of Circular No. 3,934, of April 3, 2019, and provided that its registration is accepted by the central bank issuing the Refund Code.

Art. 4. The entry in the Daily Summary will be made automatically and comprises:

I - refunds derived from export negotiations registered by an IFA;

II - deposits derived from import negotiations registered by an IFA;

III - deposits derived from unpaid import debts, resulting from import negotiations not registered or registered by an IFA with divergence of dates or values;

IV - refund reversals and deposit returns; and

V - tariffs, interest, and administrative fees.

Art. 5. Payments eligible for processing in the CCR must result from:

I - trade in goods originating from countries of the contracting central banks, including services and expenses related to this trade; or

II - trade in services not associated with the trade in goods, carried out by residents in the countries of the contracting central banks, provided they are covered by agreements signed by pairs or groups of these central banks.

Sole paragraph. Payments relating to pure financial operations cannot be processed, understood here as those involving the transfer of funds not related to a trade operation.

Art. 6. Payments corresponding to the operations mentioned in art. 5 must:

I - be intermediated by IFAs; and

II - be registered, exclusively, in United States dollars.

Art. 7. The following cannot be processed in the CCR:

I - letters of credit and documentary credits in which the exporter is a resident of a contracting country and the origin of the merchandise, previously acquired by the exporter, is from a third country, also contracting ("triangular operations"); and

II - promissory notes issued or guaranteed by Brazilian authorized institutions for the discount of instruments derived from commercial operations also with provision for processing in the CCR (financing in a third country).

Art. 8. Since April 15, 2019, all acts that integrate the procedures for requesting adherence to operate in the CCR are extinguished.

Art. 9. The IFA is responsible, in a total and exclusive manner, for the verification of the authenticity and legitimacy, for the good execution of the operations, and for the information registered by it in the CCR System.

Sole paragraph. The Central Bank of Brazil is not responsible for any eventual divergences regarding operations processed in the CCR, with the national and foreign IFAs involved being responsible for regularizing these divergences among themselves.

Art. 10. Complying with the provisions of this Resolution, the Central Bank of Brazil ensures payment to IFAs of the value, in United States dollars, of the transactions processed in the CCR System, observing the provisions of art. 34.

Art. 11. For processing in the CCR, the following are indispensable requirements:

I - the IFA issuing the instrument or granting the guarantee must be authorized, on the date of issuance of the document or granting of the guarantee, to operate in the CCR System;

II - the IFA executing or negotiating, or in the case of a bank guarantee, the sender of the promissory note or guaranteed bill for collection abroad must also be authorized to operate in the CCR;

III - the authenticity of the document or guarantee must be irrefutable;

IV - the instruments must be issued, guaranteed, fulfilled, or negotiated in accordance with the regulatory provisions applicable to them; and

V - the instructions of the ordering or issuing IFA must be observed, and no abnormality may be attributed to the execution of the operation.

Art. 12. In the event that the IFA loses authorization to operate in the CCR System, the payment guarantees of all transactions linked to instruments issued or guaranteed by it – for processing in the Agreement – during the validity period of the authorization are preserved.

Art. 13. The IFA must designate the component responsible for the relationship with the Central Bank of Brazil to the Division of International Payment Systems (Disip) of Derin, of this Autarchy.

Art. 14. The payment referring to the net value calculated in the daily settlement must be settled on the next business day following the business day of the Daily Summary, through a credit order.

§ 1. The payment favorable to the IFA is made automatically in the account indicated by the IFA itself, based on the data registered in the CCR System.

§ 2. The payment favorable to the Central Bank of Brazil must be made directly to the account indicated by it.

§ 3. In the case of the payment referred to in § 2, if the credit is not made until the next business day following the settlement, interest calculated based on the Prime rate, plus a spread of 2% a.a. (two percent per year), will be due, for the period between the due date and the date of actual payment, without prejudice to the sanctions provided for in the CCR Adhesion Letter, and the Central Bank of Brazil may also make the entry of the unpaid value in the IFA's Daily Summary.

§ 4. The payment referred to in this article must be settled in the New York market (USA).

Art. 15. The IFA must keep, in a file, the documentation relating to the operations processed in the CCR for a minimum period of 5 (five) years, counted from the end of the exercise in which the settlement or cancellation of the operation occurred, for the purpose of presentation to the Central Bank, when requested.

CHAPTER II

ADMISSIBLE PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS

Section I

General Provisions

Art. 16. The following payment instruments are accepted for processing in the CCR:

I - letters of credit (LC) or documentary credits (DC);

II - bills corresponding to commercial operations guaranteed by authorized institutions (LA); and

III - promissory notes (promissory notes) relating to commercial operations issued or guaranteed by authorized institutions (PA).

Art. 17. Interest (CCI, CDI, LAI, PAI) and commissions and expenses (CG) directly linked to commercial operations whose payments have been made in the CCR System must be registered with the same Refund Code of the instrument relating to the principal value.

Art. 18. The issuing or guarantor IFA must consign in the instrument the expression "Refundable through the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement (CCR), under Refund Code No. ........".

Section II

Letters of Credit or Documentary Credits

Art. 19. It is recommended that Brazilian IFAs, after the negotiation of letters of credit or documentary credits, request immediate manifestation of conformity from the foreign IFA instituting the credit to the documents forwarded.

Art. 20. In the CCR, it is not permitted to process a letter of credit or documentary credit with a red clause (red clause) or that stipulates financing to the importer for a period longer than that established for payment to the exporter.

Section III

Guaranteed Bills

Art. 21. The guaranteed bills, in addition to the declaration of guarantee duly dated and signed, must contain:

I - on the front, the indication "UNIQUE EXCHANGE BILL"; and

II - on the back, the indications:

a) "Refundable through the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement (CCR), under Refund Code No. .......... (indicated by the guarantor IFA)"; and

b) "This bill comes from the export of .....(merchandise)....., exporting country ....................., importing country ......................, date of shipment......................................, value US$ ...............................................and date of guarantee ...........................".

Art. 22. When granting the guarantee, the IFA must verify if the bill originated in the commercial transaction indicated on the back.

Art. 23. The instructions of the sender must explicitly state that the commissions and banking expenses of the guarantor IFA must be paid by the importer.

Art. 24. With the purpose of avoiding eventual duplication of payment, in the remittance letter in which bills for collection are included, IFAs must make the following indication appear: "We ask you to note that at maturity of these bills we refund (or will refund ourselves) automatically their values through the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement (CCR)".

Section IV

Promissory Notes

Art. 25. Promissory notes relating to commercial operations issued or guaranteed by IFAs must contain, on the back, the following indications:

I - "Refundable through the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement (CCR), under Refund Code No. ................ (indicated by the issuing or guarantor IFA)."; and

II - "This promissory note ("promissory note") comes from the export of: (merchandise or services), exporting country .............................., importing country .........................., date of shipment ..................., value US$ ......................................and date of guarantee .......................".

Art. 26. The issuing or guarantor IFA, when signing the promissory note, must verify if this document comes from the commercial operation indicated on its back.

Art. 27. In the case of Brazilian exports, the IFA makes the payment to the beneficiary and is reimbursed by the Central Bank of Brazil in the manner of arts. 34 and 35.

Art. 28. In cases of installment payment expressly established in the promissory note and in those of incidence of interest on the operation, the exporter's IFA must send to the issuing or guarantor IFA the receipt of the corresponding amounts.

Sole paragraph. The receipts referred to in the main text must contain the indispensable elements for the identification of the corresponding promissory note, including its respective Refund Code.

CHAPTER III

REGISTRATIONS IN THE CCR SYSTEM AND
ENTRIES IN THE DAILY SUMMARY

Art. 29. The registration of new issuances of instruments for processing within the scope of the Reciprocal Payments and Credits Agreement is prohibited since April 15, 2019.

Art. 30. For the purposes of registrations made until April 15, 2019, the following commands must be observed:

I - in the case of exports, the registrations made of the negotiations of guaranteed bills and promissory notes must have been made in the CCR System within 20 (twenty) calendar days from the date of their guarantee and are conditioned to the acceptance of the central bank of the country issuing the Refund Code;

II - the registration made of the negotiation of the instrument, which is optional in the case of imports, must have been made for the value actually negotiated, with information of the dates of the negotiation and maturity.

Sole paragraph. The registrations indicated in item II must have been sent to the Sicap/Aladi System, and, in case there are no divergences and the registration is effective in said system, the operation must assume the status "registered".

Art. 31. A variable tariff of 0.04% (four hundredths of a percent) on the amount of the value to be refunded or deposited is charged by the Central Bank of Brazil, on each refund or deposit entered in the Daily Summary.

Sole paragraph. Returned or reversed values do not give rise to the right to refund of tariffs.

CHAPTER IV

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS ON EXPORTS

Art. 32. The value corresponding to the registration of export negotiation will be entered in the Daily Summary, on the maturity date indicated in the CCR System, by the Central Bank of Brazil to the IFA, with the latter being responsible for delivering the foreign currency to the exporter in the manner and deadline agreed, observing the regulation on the receipt of exports.

Sole paragraph. Only operations in "registered" status will be entered in the Daily Summary, observing the restrictions of art. 34.

Art. 33. Until the date of entry of values in the Daily Summary, alteration and exclusion of the registered negotiation are ensured, without costs.

§ 1. In case of divergence after the date of entry of values in the Daily Summary, the reversal of refund must be included in the CCR System, under the full responsibility of the IFA, and the respective supporting documentation must be kept in the operation file.

§ 2. In case of refund reversal, the IFA is subject to payment of:

I - interest calculated based on the Prime rate, valid on the maturity date of the respective negotiation, plus a spread of 2% a.a. (two percent per year), for the period between the date of credit entry in the Daily Summary and the date of inclusion of the reversal; and

II - a fee of US$25.00 (twenty-five United States dollars), as reimbursement of administrative expenses of the Central Bank of Brazil.

§ 3. The values calculated in the manner of § 2 are automatically entered in the IFA's Daily Summary, on the same business day of the registration of the refund reversal in the CCR System.

Art. 34. The resources will be entered in the Daily Summaries of IFAs, on the following occasions:

I - on the indicated maturity date, provided that:

a) the operations occur with the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Uruguay; and

b) this date is established in the corresponding payment instrument with a term less than or equal to 360 (three hundred and sixty) days, counted from the date of its issuance;

II - after the quarterly settlements of the CCR, in other cases.

Art. 35. The entries in the Daily Summary referred to in item II of art. 34 will be:

I - made 2 (two) business days after the receipt of values by the Central Bank of Brazil;

II - carried out proportionally to the values received, deducting the amounts corresponding to the operations referred to in item I of art. 34; and

III - remunerated, on a pro rata die basis, considering the period between the maturity date of the operation informed in the CCR System and the second business day after the date of settlement of the compensation, at the SOFR Rate, published on the maturity date of the operation, minus 1/8 (one eighth) percent, unless the difference is less than or equal to 0 (zero), in which case the entries will not be remunerated.

Sole paragraph. For the calculation of the remuneration referred to in item III, if there is no publication of the SOFR Rate on the maturity date of the operation, the SOFR Rate published on the date closest to the maturity date of the operation will be used.

CHAPTER V

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS ON IMPORTS

Art. 36. The deposited value that has not been debited abroad will be returned to the respective IFA through a credit included in the Daily Summary, with the IFA being responsible for requesting it from the Central Bank of Brazil, through the inclusion of the respective deposit return in the CCR System.

Art. 37. If the Central Bank of Brazil is debited abroad for a value not deposited by the IFA, the entry of said debt in the Daily Summary is automatically made by the CCR System.

Sole paragraph. In the case referred to in the main text, if the entry of the debt in the IFA's Daily Summary is made after the date of the debit to the account of the Central Bank of Brazil, interest will also be added, automatically entered, calculated based on the Prime rate valid on the date the Central Bank of Brazil was debited abroad, plus a spread of 2% a.a. (two percent per year), for the period between the date of debit to the account of the Central Bank of Brazil and the date of entry in the Daily Summary.

CHAPTER VI

FINAL PROVISIONS

Art. 38. Derin is authorized to issue norms and adopt the necessary measures for the execution of the provisions of this Resolution.

Art. 39. For the purpose of calculating interest, it is considered that the year contains 365 (three hundred and sixty-five) days.

Art. 40. The following are revoked:

I - Circular No. 3,871, of December 21, 2017;

II - Circular No. 3,934, of April 3, 2019; and

III - BCB Resolution No. 58, of December 23, 2020.

Art. 41. This Resolution enters into force on April 1, 2022.

Fernanda Magalhães Rumenos
Kept

Director of International Affairs and Corporate Risk Management