Board Resolution No. 106/2015 Approving the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves

BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 106/2015

SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT — APPROVES THE REGULATION FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVES.

HAVING SEEN:

The Political Constitution of the State approved by referendum on January 25, 2009, and published on February 7, 2009.

Law No. 1670 of October 31, 1995 of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB).

The BCB Statute approved by Board Resolution No. 128/2005 of October 21, 2005, and its subsequent modifications.

The Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves approved by Board Resolution No. 119/2014 of September 16, 2014.

The Report from the International Operations Management BCB-GOI-SRES-DNI-INF-2015-22 of June 24, 2015.

The Report from the Legal Affairs Management BCB-GAL-SANO-INF-2015-254 of June 26, 2015.

CONSIDERING:

That the Political Constitution of the State establishes in its article 328 that it is the responsibility of the BCB, in coordination with the economic policy determined by the Executive Branch, in addition to those indicated by Law, to administer international reserves.

That in accordance with what is provided in article 16 of Law No. 1670, the Central Bank of Bolivia has the function of administering and managing International Reserves, being able to invest them and deposit them in custody, as well as dispose of and pledge them, in the manner it considers most appropriate for the fulfillment of its object and its functions and for their adequate safeguarding and security.

That within the framework of the aforementioned, the Central Bank of Bolivia has approved through Board Resolution No. 119/2014 the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves, establishing the policies and norms for its correct administration.

That the Report from the International Operations Management BCB-GOI-SRES-DNI-INF-2015-22 recommends approving a new Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves with the aim of optimizing the management and diversification of said reserves.

That the Report from the Legal Affairs Management BCB-GAL-SANO-INF-2015-254 concludes that the project of the new Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves proposed by the GOI is legally procedent, since it does not contravene the current legal order, being the competence of the BCB Board to consider its approval.

That the BCB Board in its capacity as the highest authority of the Institution, is responsible for defining its policies, specialized normative regulations of general application, and internal norms, being empowered to issue norms and adopt general decisions that may be necessary for the fulfillment of the functions, competencies, and powers assigned by Law to the Issuing Entity, as established in articles 44 and 54 inc. o) of Law No. 1670 and articles 9, 11, and 24 of the BCB Statute.

THEREFORE,

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA

RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Approve the new Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves, which, as an annex, forms an integral part of this Resolution,
which will enter into force on the day of its approval.

Article 2.- Repeal Board Resolution No. 119/2014 of September 16, 2014, and all provisions contrary to this Regulation from this date.

Article 3.- The Presidency and the General Management are charged with the execution and compliance of this Resolution.

La Paz, July 1, 2015

ANNEX

REGULATION FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVES

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- (Object)
The purpose of this Regulation is to establish the policies and norms for the administration of the international reserves of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB).

Article 2.- (Investment Criteria)
The BCB's international reserves are invested with criteria of security, capital preservation, liquidity, diversification, and profitability, in that order of priority.

Article 3.- (International Reserves Committee)
I. The International Reserves Committee, constituted in accordance with the BCB Statute, meets at least once a month to evaluate the investments made by the International Operations Management and by delegated administrators.
II. Before the start of each quarter, it determines the minimum and maximum levels of the Precautionary Tranche, Working Capital, and the Investment Tranche portfolios. If necessary, it can modify these decisions within the same quarter.
III. It defines the treatment to be applied to investments in which their credit risk rating decreases to a level below the minimum required in article 15 of this Regulation.
IV. It defines the treatment for cases where mergers, absorptions, or subrogations of financial entities occur in which there are investments, current accounts are maintained, or delegated administration or securities custody services are provided.

Article 4.- (Execution of Investments)
The International Operations Management, through the Reserves Sub-management, is responsible for the execution of international reserve investments, applying the provisions of this Regulation, presenting periodic reports to the International Reserves Committee and the BCB Board. The Investment Control Department of the International Operations Management will carry out control over the compliance with the norms, policies, and objectives established by the BCB Board in the investment of international reserves, presenting periodic reports to the International Reserves Committee.

CHAPTER II
ON INTERNATIONAL RESERVES

SECTION I
OBJECT AND STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVES

Article 5.- (Object)
International reserves have the objective of maintaining the normal functioning of the country's international payments and backing monetary and exchange rate policies.

Article 6.- (Structure of International Reserves)
I. International reserves are composed of international monetary reserves and gold reserves.
II. International monetary reserves are broken down into the Precautionary Tranche and the Investment Tranche.

Article 7.- (Precautionary Tranche)
I. The object of the Precautionary Tranche, constituted by Working Capital and the Liquidity Portfolio, is to cover liquidity needs to meet international payment requirements and those arising from extraordinary events.
II. The minimum and maximum levels of the Precautionary Tranche are determined by the International Reserves Committee.

Article 8.- (Working Capital)
I. The object of working capital is to meet immediate payment requirements and fund transfers abroad. It is composed of investments of up to 7 days, balances in current accounts abroad, and US dollars in banknotes.
II. The General Management, in coordination with the Treasury and International Operations Managements, will approve the amounts and dates for sending or receiving foreign currency in banknotes.

Article 9.- (Liquidity Portfolio)
I. The object of the Liquidity Portfolio is to meet liquidity requirements that are not covered by Working Capital.
II. The Liquidity Portfolio maintains short-term investments detailed in article 13 of this Regulation.

Article 10.- (Investment Tranche)
I. The object of the Investment Tranche is to diversify the investment of international reserves and increase its value over a long-term horizon.
II. Its size is determined by the difference between the total International Monetary Reserves and the Precautionary Tranche.
III. It is constituted by Special Drawing Rights (SDR) Holdings at the International Monetary Fund and by the Portfolios: Medium Term 0-3 years (Own Administration), Medium Term 0-3 years (External Administration), Medium Term 0-5 years, Global, and TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities).
IV. This tranche is invested in the instruments and operations indicated in article 13 of this Regulation.
V. The Medium Term 0-5 years portfolio will hold each of its investments until maturity. The International Reserves Committee may exceptionally define sales before the maturity of an investment.

Article 11.- (Authorized Currencies)
I. Working Capital and the Liquidity Portfolio are constituted by currencies from countries that comply with what is established in article 15 of this Regulation.
II. The minimum and maximum limits of the currencies that make up the Investment Tranche are determined by the BCB Board.

SECTION II
REFERENCE BENCHMARKS, AUTHORIZED INSTRUMENTS, AND OPERATIONS

Article 12.- (Reference Benchmarks)
The following reference benchmarks are established:

Tranche | Portfolio | Reference Benchmark (Benchmark) --- | --- | --- Precautionary | Working Capital | LIBID Overnight average in USD Precautionary | Liquidity Portfolio | LIBID 6 months average in USD Investment | Medium Term 0-3 years (Own and External Administration) | Merrill Lynch US Treasuries index 0 to 3 years Investment | Medium Term 0-5 years | MTI BIS Titles 0-5 Months Investment | TIPS | Barclays Capital US Govt. Inflation-linked Bond Index, 1-10 years Investment | Global (I) | Merrill Lynch index of French Government Titles 0-1 year in EUR, FIXBIS 6 months in AUD, FIXBIS 6 months in CAD, index of 6-month deposits in CNH, and Merrill Lynch index of Chinese Government Titles 1-10 years in CNY.

(I) The weight of each index in the benchmark will be based on the average balance of each Portfolio and its currencies.

Article 13.- (Authorized Instruments and Operations)

CHAPTER III
ON GOLD RESERVES

Article 14.- (Gold Reserves)
I. Gold reserves are constituted by investments in time deposits, bonds denominated in gold, balances in allocated (physically) or unallocated (book entry) accounts, and gold bars that possess the quality of London Good Delivery Bars.
II. Investments can be made in countries with a long-term sovereign credit risk rating of AA-, at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the World Bank (WB), and in financial entities that are members of the London Bullion Market Association with a long-term rating equal to or greater than A and a short-term rating equal to or greater than F1.
III. The investment limit for gold abroad is 100%, and the amount of gold in bars purchased locally, which may remain in the BCB vault, will be up to 500 kilos.
IV. Investments in gold by issuer must not exceed 40% of the portfolio value excluding the BIS and the WB.
V. The purchase of gold required to complete London Good Delivery Bars, resulting from the refining of locally purchased gold, is authorized.

CHAPTER IV
GLOBAL RISK POLICY

Article 15.- (Credit Risk)
I. The country where the investments are made and the country of the headquarters of the institutions in which the investments of monetary reserves are made or with which intermediation is carried out, must have a long-term sovereign credit risk rating equal to or greater than A.
II. The investment of international reserves is made with issuers that have a short-term rating equal to or greater than F-1 and a long-term rating equal to or greater than A.
III. Investments are made in non-subordinated debt titles and without any component associated with the equity market.
IV. Investments of international reserves can be made in the BIS.
V. The maximum expected credit loss in a year, measured by Value at Risk (VaR), is 1% for the Precautionary Tranche and 0.8% for the Investment Tranche, with a confidence level of 99.9%.

Article 16.- (Market Risk)

Article 17.- (Concentration Risk)
The limits by concentration on the total international monetary reserves are:

Sector/Issuer | Total International Monetary Reserves --- | --- By Agency | 15% By Regional or Municipal Government | 10% By Supranational | 15% By Banking Issuer | 5%

CHAPTER V
DELEGATED ADMINISTRATION AND CUSTODY OF SECURITIES

Article 18.- (Delegated Administration)
I. The delegated administration of international monetary reserves is carried out through international organizations, financial institutions, or fund administrators.
II. The BCB Board, through express Resolution, will approve the investment guidelines for delegated administration, for subsequent contracting in accordance with what is provided by the specific regulation for the contracting of these services.
III. The total delegated amount must not exceed 15% of international monetary reserves.
IV. The amount delegated by institution must not exceed 5% of international monetary reserves.

Article 19.- (Custody)
The custody services for the investments of international reserves are carried out at the BIS and in banks or financial institutions that have a long-term issuer credit risk rating equal to or greater than A, and that comply with what is provided in article 15 of this Regulation.

CHAPTER VI
COMMON PROVISIONS

Article 20.- (Investment Performance)
The performance of the BCB's international reserves will be evaluated with reference to the currency invested in each portfolio.

Article 21.- (Prohibitions)
Investments in agencies of banks or financial institutions classified as "Offshore" are prohibited.

Article 22.- (Intermediaries)
The purchase and sale of titles and currencies will be carried out with primary dealers, eligible financial institutions, or institutions registered in the Stock Exchanges of the countries defined in article 15 of this Regulation.

Article 23.- (Credit Risk Rating Agency)
The credit risk ratings mentioned in this Regulation correspond to Fitch Solutions Inc. In case ratings from another Credit Rating Agency are used, ratings equivalent to those of Fitch Solutions Inc. will be taken into account.

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