Central Bank of Tunisia Circular to Banks No. 03 of 2018 on Opening Special Electoral Campaign Bank Accounts for the 2018 Municipal Elections

Control Office
April 5, 2018
Fax issued

Tunisian Republic
Central Bank of Tunisia
Tunis, April 5, 2018

Circular
to Banks No. 03 of 2018

Subject: Opening of special bank accounts for electoral campaigns in favor of candidate lists for the 2018 municipal elections.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia,

Having reviewed Law No. 23 of 2012 dated December 20, 2012 concerning the Independent High Authority for Elections and all subsequent amending and supplementary provisions,

Having reviewed Law No. 16 of 2014 dated May 26, 2014 concerning Elections and Referendums as amended and supplemented by Law No. 7 of 2017 dated February 14, 2017,

Having reviewed Law No. 35 of 2016 dated April 25, 2016 concerning the basic statute of the Central Bank of Tunisia,

Having reviewed Law No. 48 of 2016 dated July 11, 2016 concerning Banks and Financial Institutions,

Having reviewed Decision No. 20 of 2014 dated August 8, 2014 concerning the regulation of electoral campaign financing rules, procedures, and methods as amended and supplemented by Decision No. 17 of 2017 dated October 23, 2017,

Having reviewed the opinion of the Compliance Committee No. 2 of 2018 dated April 2018, as stipulated in Article 42 of Law No. 35 of 2016 concerning the basic statute of the Central Bank of Tunisia,

Has decided as follows:

Article 1: Banks must open a single special electoral campaign account bearing the name of the candidate list for municipal elections, to be opened by the head of the candidate list within the electoral district of the municipality where the list is registered. In the absence of a bank branch in that district, the account shall be opened at a bank branch within the territorial district of the governorate where the municipal electoral district is located. The financial agent of the candidate list shall manage and operate the single special electoral campaign bank account in accordance with prevailing regulations.

Banks are permitted to open more than one bank account for each candidate list.

Article 2: The special electoral campaign account shall be opened in accordance with prevailing regulations and based on the following documents:

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

Article 3: The special electoral campaign account shall be funded exclusively by the following resources:
1) TND transfers originating from:

• The internal accounts of members of the candidate list holding the account, or the internal accounts of the political party to which the candidate list belongs, as self-financing.
• The internal accounts of Tunisian natural persons resident for tax purposes, as private financing for the electoral campaign, with the explicit note that transfers from legal entities of all kinds and foreign natural persons are excluded, even if they reside in Tunisia or have Tunisian-sourced income under tax legislation.
• The state budget in favor of the candidate list as a public grant for election expense reimbursement.

2) Financial amounts deposited by the financial agent as self-financing or private financing, either in cash or via checks. In this case, the reverse of the deposit slip must clearly state the full identity of the financial agent (first name, last name, national ID card number, and date of issue), along with their signature.

Article 4: No overdraft or advances of any kind shall be granted to the special electoral campaign account, nor shall any advances be made to the list holding the account.
Upon request by the financial agent of the candidate list, the bank where the special electoral campaign account is held must provide sufficient checkbooks and a single debit card for withdrawals within the available balance in the account.

Article 5: Before opening the special electoral campaign account, each bank must verify via the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system (Service No. 16 on the homepage) that no other special account exists under the name of the candidate list for municipal elections.

Article 6: Banks must declare to the Central Bank of Tunisia every opening of a special electoral campaign account as stipulated in Article 1, via the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system (Service No. 16 on the homepage).

Article 7: Banks must initially submit interim statements for the special municipal election accounts from their opening until May 4, 2018 (or any other date the Authority deems appropriate), and subsequently submit final statements for those accounts from their opening until closure, within a maximum period of 15 days following closure. The statements must be submitted to the Central Bank of Tunisia on paper signed and stamped by the bank's legal representative, and via the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system in Excel format. Upon account closure, banks must also recover the debit card and unused check forms from the financial agent of the candidate list holding the account, taking necessary measures to complete ongoing banking operations in said account.

Article 8: Banks must designate a correspondent to the Central Bank of Tunisia from among their staff with at least manager rank, responsible for overseeing the implementation of the obligations set forth in this Circular, particularly collecting required data related to election accounts from branches and forwarding it to the Central Bank of Tunisia. A deputy must be appointed meeting the same qualifications. Banks must notify the Central Bank of Tunisia (General Management of Financial Stability and Risk Prevention) without delay of the full identity, phone number, and email address of the correspondent and their deputy by any means leaving written evidence.

Article 9: Banks must retain the files of election accounts and all documents related to their opening, management, and closure, as well as the documents and supporting evidence related to operations and transactions conducted through them, for a period of ten years from the date of closure.

Article 10: The provisions of this Circular shall enter into force upon notification.

Governor,
Marouane Abassi
(Signature)