BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 043/2024

SUBJECT: ECONOMIC POLICY ADVISORY – APPROVAL OF THE REGULATION FOR THE REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN THE PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA AND FINANCIAL OPERATIONS WITH THE ABROAD.

VIEWED:

• The Political Constitution of the State of February 7, 2009 (CPE).
• Law No. 1670 of October 31, 1995, of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) and its modifications.
• Law No. 164 of August 8, 2011, General Law of Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies.
• Law No. 516 of April 4, 2014, on the Promotion of Investments.
• The Regulation for the Registration of Foreign Investment in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Financial Operations with the Abroad, approved by Board Resolution No. 063/2014, of June 24, 2014 (RIOF).
• The Statute of the Central Bank of Bolivia, approved by Board Resolution No. 095/2022 of October 6, 2022.
• Report BCB-APEC-SEXT-INF-2024-12 of March 22, 2024, issued by the Economic Policy Advisory (APEC).
• Reports BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-100 and BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-103 both dated March 25, 2024, issued by the Legal Affairs Management (GAL).

CONSIDERING:

That the Political Constitution of the State in its Article 327 determines that the BCB has the function of maintaining the stability of the internal purchasing power of the currency to contribute

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to economic and social development.

That Article 328 of the Political Constitution of the State states that the BCB, in coordination with the economic policy determined by the Executive Branch, in addition to those indicated by law, has among its attributions to determine and execute monetary policy, execute exchange rate policy, regulate the payment system, authorize the issuance of currency, and administer international reserves.

That Law No. 1670 in its Article 1 establishes that the BCB is a state institution, of public law, of an autarkic nature, of indefinite duration, with its own legal personality and assets and with legal domicile in the city of La Paz, it is the sole monetary and exchange rate authority of the country, with administrative, technical, and financial competence and specialized regulatory powers of general application, in the manner and, with the scope established in said Law.

That Articles 20 and 43 of Law No. 1670 provide that the BCB is authorized to regulate financial operations with foreign countries, carried out by public and private persons or entities; as well as the BCB will periodically publish statistical and economic information on the economic and financial variables included within the scope of its competence.

That Article 44 of Law No. 1670 establishes that the highest authority of the BCB is its Board of Directors, which is responsible for defining its policies, specialized regulations of general application, and internal rules.

That Law No. 1670, in subsections a) and o) of Article 54, establishes that the attributions of the BCB Board of Directors are to issue norms and adopt general decisions that are necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and powers assigned to it by the Law; as well as to approve, modify, and interpret the Statute and Regulations of the BCB, by two-thirds of the votes of all its members, without the need for any additional administrative act.

That subsections 2) and 5) of Article 2 of Law No. 164 establish as the objective of said Law to ensure the exercise of the right to universal and equitable access to telecommunications, information and communication technologies services, as well as postal service and promote the use of information and communication technologies to improve the

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living conditions of Bolivian women and men.

That Articles 71 and paragraphs I and II of Article 72 of Law No. 164 declare as a national priority the promotion of the use of information and communication technologies to procure the good living of all Bolivian women and men; to this effect, the State at all its levels will foster access, use, and social appropriation of information and communication technologies, the deployment and use of infrastructure, the development of content and applications, the protection of users, cybersecurity and network security, as mechanisms for democratizing opportunities for all sectors of society and especially for those with lower incomes and special needs, in addition to which public entities must adopt all necessary measures to guarantee the maximum use of information and communication technologies in the development of their functions.

That subsection b) of Article 4, Article 13, and paragraph I of Article 15 of Law No. 516 establish as the definition of investor the natural or legal person, Bolivian or foreign, public or private, that makes an investment in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the BCB will have the registration of foreign investment in its charge and will issue a certificate of contribution entry for investment in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, which will accredit the entry of foreign resources into the country, the registration must be carried out in specific formats that guarantee the capture of information regarding the origin, destination, contributions, and mechanisms of the investment, as well as reinvestment, according to what is established in the present Law, the BCB will issue the required norm for the implementation of the foreign investment registration and the BCB will register the transfer abroad of foreign currency.

That subsections 1) and 3) of Article 5 of the BCB Statute provide that its Board of Directors has regulatory competence to issue specialized norms in the fields assigned by Law and technical competence for the formulation of policies and the application of instruments that allow it to fulfill its object.

That subsections 1) and 30) of Article 10 of the BCB Statute determine as attributions of the Board of Directors, to approve general decisions and issue the norms that were necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and powers assigned to it by

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the Law and to approve, modify, and interpret the Statute and Regulations of the BCB, by two-thirds of the votes of all its members, without the need for an additional administrative act.

That paragraph I of Article 24 of the BCB Statute provides that resolutions and decisions of the Board of Directors are adopted by a simple majority of votes of its members present in a meeting, except in cases where Law No. 1670 or the Statute require qualified majorities.

That paragraphs I and II of Article 26 of the BCB Statute stipulate that the Board of Directors pronounces itself on matters within its competence through Resolutions. It may also do so through decisions that will be expressly recorded in the Minutes. Likewise, every draft Board Resolution must be motivated and justified by a technical report from the Management or Managements to which the matter subject to the Resolution corresponds and by a report from the GAL. These reports must be sent to the Board of Directors by the General Management with its recommendation.

That Report BCB-APEC-SEXT-INF-2024-12 from the APEC concludes that the Regulation for the Registration of Foreign Investment in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Financial Operations with the Abroad responds to technical updates, both in the form of information reception by the BCB and in the need to have information in an agile and efficient manner for the compilation of external sector statistics, within the framework of guidelines established by international organizations, recommending its approval.

That Reports BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-100 and BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-103 from the GAL conclude that considering the Report of the APEC, the proposal for the new Regulation for the Registration of Foreign Investment in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Financial Operations with the Abroad has as its object technical updates, both in the form of information reception by the BCB and in the need to have information in an agile and efficient manner for the compilation of external sector statistics, within the framework of guidelines established by international organizations; for this reason it is legally viable; recommending to the Board of Directors of the BCB its approval.

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THEREFORE,

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA

RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Approve the Regulation for the Registration of Foreign Investment in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Financial Operations with the Abroad in its seven (7) Chapters, twenty-one (21) Articles, and one (1) Transitional Provision, which as an Annex forms an integral part of this Resolution.

Article 2.- This Resolution will enter into force from its publication.

Article 3.- From the entry into force of this Resolution, Board Resolution No. 063/2014 of June 24, 2014, is hereby repealed.

Article 4.- The Presidency and the General Management are charged with the Compliance of this Resolution.

La Paz, March 26, 2024

SIGNED. ROGER EDWIN ROJAS ULO, Oscar Ferrufino Morro, Gabriel Herbas Camacho, Gumercindo Héctor Pino Guzmán, Diego Alejandro Pérez Cueto Eulert.

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ANNEX

REGULATION FOR THE REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN THE PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA AND FINANCIAL OPERATIONS WITH THE ABROAD

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- (Object)

Within the framework of what is provided by Law No. 1670 and Law No. 516, this Regulation has as its object to regulate the Registration of Foreign Investment and Financial Operations with the Abroad.

Article 2.- (Scope of Application)

This Regulation applies to public, private, and mixed-capital legal entities and contracts or other joint investment instruments; which hereinafter will be referred to as Companies that have foreign investment or financial operations with the abroad.

Article 3.- (Required Information)

Companies subject to the scope of application of this Regulation will provide the information required by the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) according to Chapter II of the same.

Article 4.- (Responsibilities of the BCB)

For the fulfillment of the object of this Regulation, the BCB has the following responsibilities:

a) To carry out the collection, compilation, registration, and official publication of data on Bolivia's private external debt; foreign direct investment, foreign portfolio investment, and other foreign investment in Bolivia; direct investment, portfolio investment, loans, deposits abroad, and financial derivatives; income from investment received and paid; international trade in services (exports and imports) and other external assets and liabilities;

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b) To issue the Certificate of Entry of Investment Contributions that will accredit the entry of foreign resources into the country for that purpose in Companies;

c) To carry out the registration of the transfer of foreign currency abroad carried out by foreign investors.

Article 5.- (Responsible Area)

The Economic Policy Advisory, on behalf of the BCB, will register and issue a certificate that accredits the entry of foreign investment contributions in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and will register the transfer of foreign currency abroad that foreign investors carry out based on the information provided by Companies and/or investors. Likewise, it will carry out the capture of the rest of the information detailed in Article 4.

CHAPTER II

REPORTING OF INFORMATION

Article 6.- (Reporting of Information)

Companies must report the information established in Article 4 of this Regulation for the Registration of Foreign Investment in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Financial Operations with the Abroad (RIOF). This information constitutes a sworn statement by the Company, which is responsible for its truthfulness, consistency, and coherence.

The Foreign Investment and Financial Operations with the Abroad Registration System, hereinafter "Online RIOF System," will be available on the BCB website for Companies to make their online declarations.

For the correct declaration of information by Companies, the BCB will disseminate filling guides in different formats through official media.

Article 7.- (Fields of the Online RIOF System)

The Online RIOF System consists of the following parts:

a) Company Identification

Refers to the general data of the declaring Company (RIOF - 1).

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b) Foreign Investment Contribution

Refers to investment contributions by foreign investors (RIOF - 2), it allows capturing the origin, destination, contribution, and investment mechanisms, as well as reinvestment. The RIOF - 2 section incorporates the different modalities of investment contributions.

The information from sections RIOF - 1 and RIOF - 2 are mandatory requirements for the issuance of the Certificate of Entry of Investment Contributions.

c) Complementary Information

Complementary information on shareholding, equity, the market value of the Company, profits, and dividends that must be filled in section RIOF-3.

d) Private External Debt Report (DEXPRI)

Refers to those medium and long-term external obligations that Companies incur with non-residents in the country, without the guarantee of the Bolivian government. This debt comes from the parent company, foreign subsidiary, or other related entities, international organizations, international banking, suppliers, private financial and non-financial institutions, and agencies of foreign governments. For this effect, Companies that contract a credit or any other medium and long-term external indebtedness must report this information to the BCB, within the deadlines and forms established in Article 11 of this Regulation, in sections RIOF - 4 and RIOF - 5.

The information on short-term credits contracted with the parent company or foreign subsidiary and/or third parties must be reported to the BCB in section RIOF - 6.

e) Report of External Assets

Includes the following modalities:

e.1) Investment Abroad

Refers to the following types of investment:

• Shares and other capital participations and reinvested profits abroad.
• Investment in capital participation and/or debt securities.

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• Participation quotas in foreign investment funds.
• Bonds and promissory notes of long term that are traded in foreign markets.
• Money market instruments (short-term and negotiable in organized markets) that are traded in foreign markets.

This information must be declared in sections RIOF - 7 and RIOF - 8.

e.2) Loans Abroad

Refers to those short, medium, and long-term loans that resident Companies grant to non-residents. This information must be declared in section RIOF - 7.

e.3) Deposits Abroad

Constitute the funds of resident Companies deposited abroad. They are composed of current account deposits, savings accounts, time deposits, and others. This information must be declared in section RIOF - 8.

e.4) Financial Derivatives

Refers to those assets and/or liabilities in options, swaps, futures, or others that resident Companies hold. This information must be declared in section RIOF - 8.

f) Report of Transfers Abroad

Referring to the outflow of foreign currency by foreign investors, prior to compliance with tax obligations and others established in current regulations, they may transfer abroad through the national financial system in freely convertible foreign currency for the following concepts:

i. The capital coming from the total or partial liquidation of the companies in which the registered foreign investment was made, or from the sale of shares, participations, or rights acquired by reason of the foreign investment;

ii. The net profits generated from the registered foreign investment;

iii. The income resulting from the resolution of disputes;

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iv. Payments to suppliers or creditors domiciled abroad directly linked to the investment, within the framework of current and applicable regulations;

v. Other payments to which they might be entitled, within the framework of current regulations.

This information must be declared in section RIOF – 9.

g) Report of International Trade in Services (CIS)

The international trade in services section covers a set of intangible products and activities. The BCB will establish the respective categories, detailing the country of origin, destination of the service, and the mode of supply and/or consumption thereof. This information must be declared in section RIOF - 10.

h) Report of Foreign Investment Prospects

For the purpose of having reference information, Companies must remit qualitative and quantitative information on their intention to make additional or new foreign investment in the following management periods in Bolivia. Only this report does not have the character of a sworn statement and must be registered in section RIOF - 11.

Article 8.- (Modification of Information Reporting)

The fields of the "Online RIOF System" may be subject to modification at the request of the Economic Policy Advisory and will communicate to the General Management the changes made.

CHAPTER III

CERTIFICATION OF INVESTMENT RESOURCES AND REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSFER ABROAD

Article 9.- (Contribution Certificate)

The BCB will assign a control code to each Investment Contribution and certify the statistical registration thereof by issuing a Certificate of Entry of Investment Contributions. For this purpose, the Company must request the issuance of the Certificate through the "Online RIOF System," declaring the information in the corresponding sections and, in the case of contributions in national or freely convertible foreign currency, additionally the proof of transfer from abroad issued by an entity of the national financial system.

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Since it is a sworn statement, the request to the BCB must be made through the "Online RIOF System," attaching the proof, if applicable.

The BCB will issue the Certificate within five business days of receiving the respective request through the "Online RIOF System" duly signed.

The Company may request the Certificate at any time.

CHAPTER IV

PERIODICITY OF REMITTED INFORMATION

Article 10.- (Declaration of Information to the BCB)

Companies must declare quarterly to the BCB their information through the "Online RIOF System," according to Chapter II of this Regulation, with information as of March, June, September, and December, within the fifteen business days of the following month, filling in the sections that correspond to them according to the characteristics of their company.

Any initial or additional foreign investment contribution must be reported to the BCB in the corresponding sections in the "Online RIOF System." In this case, the BCB will issue the Certificate of Entry of Investment Contributions. For this effect, the Company must proceed as indicated in Article 9 of Chapter III.

Article 11.- (Report of Medium and Long-Term Credits and Certification)

The Company that contracts a credit or any other medium and long-term external indebtedness must report this information in the corresponding sections through the "Online RIOF System," within a period of 30 days from the signing of the contracts or the incurring of the obligation.

The BCB will assign a control code to each external obligation and certify the statistical registration of private external debt within 5 business days of receiving the request in the "Online RIOF System" duly signed. This request must be accompanied by proof, if applicable.

Article 12.- (Short-Term Credit Report)

The report of short-term credits contracted by the Company will be declared to the BCB in the "Online RIOF System" (section RIOF-6), in the periodicity indicated in Article 10 of this Regulation.

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Article 13.- (Financial Statements)

In order to have additional information, Companies must remit to the BCB in the "Online RIOF System" their Financial Statements once their accounting period has concluded and after having been sent to the National Tax Service.

CHAPTER V

TRANSFER OF FOREIGN CURRENCY TO AND FROM ABROAD

Article 14.- (Capital Transfers Coming from Abroad)

Investments made in the Plurinational State of Bolivia must consider that the transfer of capital coming from abroad is channeled through the national financial system. The financial entity will issue a proof of entry of foreign currency from abroad at the request of Companies, which must be attached to the request for the Certificate of Entry of Investment Contributions to the BCB in the "Online RIOF System."

Article 15.- (Transfer of Foreign Currency Abroad through the Financial System)

Foreign investors, prior to compliance with tax obligations and others established in current regulations, may transfer abroad in freely convertible foreign currency through the banking system the following:

i. The capital coming from the total or partial liquidation of the Companies in which the registered foreign investment was made, or from the sale of shares, participations, or rights acquired by reason of the foreign investment;

ii. The net profits generated from the registered foreign investment;

iii. The income resulting from the resolution of disputes;

iv. Payments to suppliers or creditors domiciled abroad, directly linked to the investment, within the framework of current and applicable regulations;

v. Other payments to which they might be entitled, within the framework of current regulations.

The Company must report such transfer abroad to the BCB through the "Online RIOF System" (Section RIOF-9).

Article 16.- (Transfers to and from Abroad through the Financial System)

In order to reconcile the information referred to in Articles 14 and 15 of this Regulation, financial entities will report to the BCB the operations of transfers to and from abroad according to a circular issued by the ASFI in coordination with the Issuing Entity.

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CHAPTER VI

SAFEGUARDING, PUBLICATION, AND DISSEMINATION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND FOREIGN PRIVATE CAPITAL STATISTICS IN BOLIVIA

Article 17.- (Safeguarding of Information)

The BCB is responsible for the safeguarding of statistics on foreign investment information and financial operations with the abroad.

Article 18.- (Responsibility for Information)

The Company is responsible for the truthfulness, consistency, and coherence of the information sent to the BCB.

Article 19.- (Complementary Information)

Within the framework of regulations and based on information needs, the BCB may request complementary information from Companies.

Article 20.- (Dissemination of Information on Foreign Investment and Financial Operations with the Abroad)

The BCB will generate and publish