Board Resolution No. 135/2026

BOARD
BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 135/2026
SUBJECT: ECONOMIC POLICY ADVISORY AND FINANCIAL ENTITIES MANAGEMENT - MODIFY THE LEGAL RESERVE REGULATION FOR FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION ENTITIES

VIEWED:
The Law No. 1670 of October 31, 1995, of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) and its modifications.
The Law No. 393 of August 21, 2013, on Financial Services and its modifications.
The Legal Reserve Regulation for Financial Intermediation Entities approved by Board Resolution No. 76/2022 of August 26, 2022, and its modifications.
The Statute of the BCB approved by Board Resolution No. 85/2026 of June 23, 2026.
The report BCB-APEC-SPMEE-INF-2026-48 of September 11, 2026, from the Economic Policy Advisory (APEC) and the Financial Entities Management (GEF).
The report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2026-243 of September 15, 2026, from the Legal Affairs Management (GAL).

CONSIDERING:
That Law No. 1670 in its article 1 provides that the BCB is the sole monetary and exchange authority of the country, with administrative, technical, and financial competence and specialized normative powers of general application. In its article 3, it determines that the BCB will formulate general application policies in monetary, exchange, and payment system matters to fulfill its object.

That the aforementioned Law, in its article 7, establishes that the BCB may establish legal reserves of mandatory compliance by Banks and Financial Intermediation Entities. Their composition, amount, method of calculation, characteristics, and remuneration shall be established by the Bank's Board, by an absolute majority of votes. The control and supervision of the legal reserve shall correspond to the current Financial System Supervisory Authority (ASFI). In its article 37, it determines that the BCB will be the custodian of the liquid reserves intended to cover the legal reserve and attend to the payment system and other operations with the BCB of the Financial Intermediation Entities subject to the authorization and control of the ASFI.

That Law No. 1670, in its article 44, provides that the highest authority of the BCB is its Board, which is responsible for defining its policies, specialized norms of general application, and internal norms; as well as establishing administrative, operational, and financial strategies of the Issuing Entity, approving their respective short and medium-term programs. In sub-paragraphs a), i), and o) of its article 54, it establishes that the Board has the powers 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; to fix and regulate the administration of the legal reserve to which banks and other financial entities must adhere, disposing of measures for its compliance; 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 an additional administrative act.

That Law No. 393 in paragraph 1 of its article 426 provides that Financial Intermediation Entities must always have adequate liquidity levels to guarantee the continuity of their operations and the timely fulfillment of their obligations.

That the Legal Reserve Regulation for Financial Intermediation Entities in its article 1 establishes that its object is to fix and regulate the administration of the legal reserve and the resources resulting from its modification, in order to have instruments of monetary regulation and preservation of financial system stability. In its article 2, it provides that all Financial Intermediation Entities, authorized for their operation by the ASFI, are subject to the provisions of this Regulation.

That the Statute of the BCB, in its articles 6 and 7, establishes that the BCB has normative competence and that the norms it issues will be approved by Board Resolution. In numerals 1), 6), 22), and 50) of its article 11, it determines that the Board has the powers to approve general decisions and issue norms that are necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and powers assigned to it by the Law; to establish legal reserves of mandatory compliance by financial intermediation entities by an absolute majority of votes and approve their composition, amount, calculation, characteristics, forms of administration, custody, and remuneration; 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 an additional administrative act; and to approve modifications of any determination and provision established by the Board, as well as to monitor them.

CONSIDERING:
That through report BCB-APEC-SPMEB-INF-2026-48, the APEC and GEF conclude that the proposal to modify the Legal Reserve Regulation for Financial Intermediation Entities does not imply a reduction or modification of the level of legal reserve established by Board Resolution No. 118/2026, but only a temporary postponement of the last stage of its application to Housing Financial Entities, Development Financial Institutions, and Savings and Credit Cooperatives, with the purpose of giving greater flexibility to the management of their liquidity, maintaining the contractionary orientation of monetary policy.

That through report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2026-243, the GAL concludes that from the analysis carried out and in attention to the background sent by the APEC and GEF, it is legally viable to modify the Legal Reserve Regulation for Financial Intermediation Entities, as it does not violate the current legal framework, therefore it corresponds to the Board of the BCB to approve it in accordance with what is established in article 54 sub-paragraphs a), i), and o) of Law No. 1670 and article 11 numerals 1), 6), 22), and 50) of the Statute of the BCB.

THEREFORE,
THE BOARD OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA,
RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Postpone until January 18, 2027, for Housing Financial Entities, Development Financial Institutions, and Savings and Credit Cooperatives, the reserve requirement period established in article 6 (Legal Reserve Rates) sub-paragraph a) of the "Legal Reserve Regulation for Financial Intermediation Entities," modified by article 1 of Board Resolution No. 118/2026 of July 31, 2026, referring to the application of the rate of seven point five percent (7.5%) for reserves in securities.

Article 2.- The Presidency and the General Management are charged with the execution and compliance of this Resolution.

La Paz, September 15, 2026

SIGNED: DAVID IVAN ESPINOZA TORRICO, Claudia Haydee Pacheco Ayala, Dermise Sussan Maitin Alarcón, Walter Fernando Orellana Rocha, Alvaro Alfonso Romero Villavicencio.