Central Bank of Bolivia

Board of Directors

BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 166/2015

SUBJECT: FINANCIAL ENTITIES MANAGEMENT – AMENDMENT TO THE REGULATION ON PAYMENT SERVICES, ELECTRONIC PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS, COMPENSATION AND SETTLEMENT

VISTOS:

The Political Constitution of the State approved by referendum on January 25, 2009, and promulgated 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 on Payment Services, Electronic Payment Instruments, Compensation and Settlement approved by Board Resolution No. 134/2015 of July 28, 2015.

The Report from the Financial Entities Management BCB-GEF-SSPSF-DVSP-INF-2015-63 of August 27, 2015.

The Report from the Legal Affairs Management BCB-GAL-SANO-INF-2015-347 of August 31, 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 regulate the payment system.

That pursuant to article 331 of the Political Constitution of the State, financial intermediation activities, the provision of financial services, and any other activity related to the handling, use, and investment of savings, are of public interest and can only be exercised with prior authorization from the State, in accordance with the Law.

That Law No. 1670 establishes in its articles 2, 3, and 30 that the BCB's objective is to ensure the stability of the internal purchasing power of the national currency; for this purpose, it formulates policies of general application in monetary and payment system matters, which are subject to its regulatory competence, all financial intermediation entities and financial services authorized by the Superintendence of Banks and Financial Entities, currently known as the Financial System Supervisory Authority (ASFI).

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//2. B.R. No. 166/2015

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

That the Regulation on Payment Services, Electronic Payment Instruments, Compensation and Settlement regulates, within the scope of the national payment system, payment services and electronic payment instruments, and the compensation and settlement derived from these instruments, for which it defines the concept of Payment Order.

That the aforementioned Regulation establishes the general obligations of the entities covered by its scope of application, determining the need for the IT developments of Payment Service Entities-PSEs, Clearing and Settlement Houses, and Securities Depository Entities to be interoperable.

That the Financial Entities Management, through Report BCB-GEF-SSPSF-DVSP-INF-2015-63, recommends modifying the definition of Payment Order-PO in order to avoid inaccurate interpretations of the regulations issued by the BCB within the payment system scope, as well as to include among the general obligations the need for the IT developments of Financial Intermediation Entities-FIEs and all entities participating in authorized payment systems to be interoperable, in order to facilitate operations carried out between persons subscribed to different payment service providers.

That according to Report BCB-GAL-SANO-INF-2015-347, the Legal Affairs Management concludes that the proposed modifications to subsection xx) of article 3 and subsection c) of article 6 of the Regulation on Payment Services, Electronic Payment Instruments, Compensation and Settlement are legally appropriate, and it is the competence of the BCB Board of Directors to approve such modifications.

THEREFORE,

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA

RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Modify subsection xx) of article 3 of Board Resolution No. 134/2015 which approves the Regulation on Payment Services, Electronic Payment Instruments, Compensation and Settlement in the following terms:

IT STATES:

Article 3 (Definitions). For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions are established:

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//3. B.R. No. 166/2015

xx) Payment Order-PO: Instruction or message by which the ordering party requests the transfer of funds in favor of a beneficiary, deposits or withdraws cash, or carries out the withdrawal of cash at merchants, through the use of Payment Instruments-PI.

IT SHOULD STATE:

"Article 3 (Definitions). For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions are established:

xx) Payment Order-PO: Instruction or message by which the ordering party requests the assignment and/or transfer of funds through the use of Payment Instruments-PI, in favor of a beneficiary that, by way of example and not limitation, includes:

i) Electronic transfers between natural and/or legal persons, which includes payments in case of being benefited by the provision of a service, purchase-sale of goods, and payment for the fulfillment of obligations (debts, taxes, and others);

ii) Deposit or withdrawal of cash, loading and realization of electronic money, and the realization of Electronic Payment Instruments-EPIs at merchants (the cash originates from the commercial activities of the merchant)."

Article 2.- Modify subsection c) of article 6 of Board Resolution No. 134/2015 which approves the Regulation on Payment Services, Electronic Payment Instruments, Compensation and Settlement in the following terms:

IT STATES:

Article 6 (General Obligations). The obligations of the entities covered by this regulation are the following:

c) The IT developments of Payment Service Entities-PSEs, Clearing and Settlement Houses, and Securities Depository Entities must be interoperable and must interconnect.

IT SHOULD STATE:

"Article 6 (General Obligations). The obligations of the entities covered by this regulation are the following:

c) The IT developments of Financial Intermediation Entities-FIEs, Payment Service Entities-PSEs, Clearing and Settlement Houses, Securities Depository Entities, and all entities participating in payment systems authorized by ASFI must be interoperable and must interconnect."

Article 3.- The modifications to subsection xx) of article 3 and subsection c) of article 6 of the Regulation on Payment Services, Electronic Payment Instruments, Compensation and Settlement will enter into force from the date of approval of this Resolution.

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

La Paz, September 1, 2015

Signatures:

• Marcelo Zabalaga Estrada
• Reynaldo Yujra Segales
• Alvaro Rodríguez Rojas
• Abraham Pérez Alandia
• Ronald Polo Rivero
• Sergio Velarde Vera