Tunis, May 2, 2012

Circular to Banks and the National Office of Posts No. 30 of 1329

Subject: Special Accounts for the Election Campaign in favor of Candidate Lists in Municipal Elections.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, having examined Organic Law No. 2012-22 dated December 20, 2012 concerning the Independent High Authority for Elections and all subsequent texts amending or supplementing it, and Organic Law No. 2012-11 dated May 21, 2012 concerning Elections and Referendums as supplemented and amended by Organic Law No. 2017-7 dated February 12, 2017; and Law No. 2011-23 dated April 23, 2011 concerning the regulation of the basic system of the Central Bank of Tunisia; and Law No. 2011-24 dated July 11, 2011 concerning Banks and Financial Institutions; and Decision No. 2012-20 of the Independent High Authority for Elections dated August 4, 2012 concerning the regulation of election campaign financing rules, procedures, and methods as amended and supplemented by Decision No. 2017-17 dated October 22, 2017; and the opinion of the Compliance Monitoring Committee No. 2012-02 dated April 20, 2012 as stipulated in Article 22 of Law No. 2011-23 concerning the regulation of the basic system of the Central Bank of Tunisia, has decided the following:

Chapter 1: Branches of banks and post offices located within the electoral district of the concerned municipality must open a single special election campaign account bearing the name of the candidate list for municipal elections. This account shall be opened by the head of the candidate list or any other person under a specific power of attorney, duly identified by signature. In the absence of a bank branch or post office within this district, the account shall be opened at a bank branch or post office within the territorial district of the governorate where the concerned municipal electoral district is located. The financial agent of the candidate list shall manage, operate, and close this single special election campaign account in accordance with prevailing regulations. Banks and the National Office of Posts are prohibited from opening more than one special election campaign account for each candidate list.

Chapter 2: The special election campaign account shall be opened in accordance with prevailing regulations based on the following documents:

• Original or certified copy of the sub-authority's decision accepting the list's candidacy.
• Copy of the official document proving the identity of the head of the candidate list.
• Original or certified copy of the decision by the head of the candidate list appointing the financial agent for this role.
• Copy of the official document proving the identity of the financial agent of the candidate list.

Chapter 3: The special election campaign account shall be funded exclusively by the following resources:

1. Transfers in Tunisian Dinars originating from:
   • Internal accounts of the members of the candidate list holding the account, or internal accounts of the political party to which the candidate list belongs, as self-financing.
   • Internal accounts of Tunisian natural persons residing in Tunisia under tax legislation, as private financing for the candidate list's election campaign. Note that transfers from legal entities of all kinds and foreign natural persons (even if residing in Tunisia or with Tunisian-sourced income under tax legislation) are prohibited.
   • State budget in favor of the candidate list as a public grant for reimbursement of election expenses.
2. Financial amounts deposited by the financial agent as self-financing or private financing in cash or by checks, which must specify on the back of the deposit slip clearly the full identity of the financial agent (name, surname, national ID number, and date of issue), along with their signature.

Chapter 4: The granting of any overdraft facility or advances of any kind to the holding candidate list is prohibited.
The bank branch or post office where the special election campaign account is opened must, upon request by the financial agent of the candidate list, provide a sufficient number of checkbooks within three working days from the account opening date and as needed during the campaign upon written request, along with a single withdrawal card limited to the available account balance.

Chapter 5: Banks and the National Office of Posts must, before opening the special election campaign account, verify via the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system that no special account exists under the name of the candidate list for municipal elections.

Chapter 6: Banks and the National Office of Posts must declare to the Central Bank of Tunisia without delay all openings of special election campaign accounts as stipulated in Chapter 1, via the Central Bank's data exchange system.

Chapter 7: Banks and the National Office of Posts must provide the Central Bank of Tunisia in a first phase with interim statements for municipal election accounts from their opening until the end of the campaign, within a maximum of 13 days from the campaign's end, and in a second phase with final statements for those accounts from opening until closure, within a maximum of 13 days from closure. The submission of the aforementioned statements to the Central Bank must be made on paper signed and stamped by the legal representative of the bank or the National Office of Posts, and via the Central Bank's data exchange system in Excel format. Additionally, upon account closure, banks and the National Office of Posts must retrieve the withdrawal card and unused check forms from the financial agent of the holding candidate list, taking necessary measures to complete ongoing operations on said account.

Chapter 8: Banks and the National Office of Posts must appoint a correspondent for the Central Bank of Tunisia from among their staff with at least the rank of manager, responsible for overseeing the execution of duties stipulated in this circular, particularly collecting required data related to election accounts from bank branches and post offices and submitting them to the Central Bank within deadlines. A deputy correspondent meeting the same conditions must also be appointed. Banks and the National Office of Posts must promptly provide the Central Bank with the full identity, phone number, and email address of the correspondent and their deputy by any means leaving a written record.

Chapter 9: Banks and the National Office of Posts must retain files for election accounts, along with all documents related to their opening, management, and closure, as well as supporting documents for transactions conducted through them, for a period of ten years from the date of closure.

Chapter 10: The provisions of this circular shall enter into force upon notification.

The Governor,
Marouane Abassi