Circular 17/2010 — Rules of the Interbank Electronic Payment System (SPEI)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 OFFICIAL GAZETTE (Second Section) 11

CIRCULAR 17/2010 Rules of the Interbank Electronic Payment System.

At the margin a logo, which says: Bank of Mexico.

CIRCULAR 17/2010

TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERBANK ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM:

SUBJECT: RULES OF THE SPEI

The Bank of Mexico, based on articles 28 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, sixth and seventh paragraphs; 2nd, 3rd, fraction I, 24 and 31 of the Bank of Mexico Law; 6th and 10 of the Payment Systems Law; 22 of the Law for Transparency and Regulation of Financial Services, as well as 8th, third and sixth paragraphs, 10, 17 fraction I and 20 fractions IV and X of the Internal Regulations of the Bank of Mexico, which grant it the authority to participate in the issuance of provisions through the Central Banking Provisions Directorate and the Operations and Payments Systems Directorate, as well as regarding the latter Directorate, to exercise the powers granted by the laws to the Bank in matters of payment systems; Unique of the Agreement on the Affiliation of Administrative Units of the Bank of Mexico, fractions I and IV, with the objective of:

a) Fostering transparency through the inclusion of public protection measures in the sending of Transfer Orders through the Interbank Electronic Payment System (SPEI); b) Compiling the current regime of the SPEI; c) Making various clarifications, and d) Continuing to promote the good functioning of the payment systems and the protection of the public interest, by incorporating measures that help increase the efficiency of the SPEI by reducing timeframes for the sending, crediting, and return of Transfer Orders.

It has resolved to issue the following:

“RULES OF THE INTERBANK ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM”

1. DEFINITIONS

For brevity, in singular or plural, in these Rules the following shall be understood as:

Liquidation Notice: the message that the SPEI sends by electronic means to the Participants, to notify them that one or more Transfer Orders have been liquidated and that the respective charges and credits have been made in the SPEI Accounts.

SPEI Account: that which is denominated in national currency that the Participants maintain in the SPEI and in which overdrafts are not permitted.

Manual: the document named “SPEI Operations Manual”, prepared by the Bank of Mexico in which the mechanics and technical requirements to operate in the SPEI are described, which is available to the Participants.

Transfer Order: the unconditional instruction that a Participant sends to another through the SPEI in terms of these Rules, so that on its own behalf or on behalf of third parties it pays a determined sum in national currency to the beneficiary designated in said order.

Accepted Transfer Order:
a) that Transfer Order that has been liquidated in accordance with numeral 5 of these Rules.

Participant: the Bank of Mexico and the entities that have signed with said Bank the contract to participate in the SPEI in terms of what is stated in numeral 2 of these Rules, in order to be able to send and receive Transfer Orders.

Receiving Participant: the Participant that receives an Accepted Transfer Order.

Sending Participant: the Participant that sends a Transfer Order.

SPEI: the Interbank Electronic Payment System of the Bank of Mexico.

2. CRITERIA FOR ACTING AS A PARTICIPANT

Retirement fund administrators; brokerage houses; exchange houses; credit institutions; insurance companies; savings and loan cooperatives; distributing companies of shares of investment companies; regulated multiple-purpose financial companies; popular financial companies, and operating companies of investment companies may act as Participants in the SPEI. The Bank of Mexico may allow other entities regulated and supervised by the Bank itself, the National Banking and Securities Commission, the National Retirement Savings System Commission or the National Insurance and Surety Commission to act as Participants.

Persons interested in acting as Participants must communicate this to the Operations and Payments Systems Directorate of the Bank of Mexico, as well as satisfy said Directorate that they have the necessary technical elements to operate in the SPEI.

Interested persons who have satisfied the above may celebrate the respective contract with the Bank of Mexico, for which they must provide it with the name(s) of the person(s) who intend(s) to sign it, attaching a simple copy of their official identification(s) and a certified and simple copy of the public deed in which the powers to exercise acts of domain are stated, as well as expressly the power to designate the persons who may act as operators in the payment systems administered by the Bank of Mexico.

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3. REQUEST AND SEND OF TRANSFER ORDERS OF ACCOUNT HOLDERS

3.1 REQUEST FOR SEND

Sending Participants must allow their account holders to present requests for the send of Transfer Orders, as follows:

a) For any amount, provided they have available resources in the account to be charged; b) To any Participant included in the list that the Bank of Mexico informs daily at the start of SPEI operations, which they must make available to account holders; c) On any banking business day:
i) During public service hours or until 17:30:00 hours Mexico City time, in their branches, and ii) From 6:00:00 to 17:30:00 hours, when the request is made through computer applications or portals on the worldwide network (Internet), and d) With the information indicated in the fields “Reference Number” and “Payment Concept”.

3.2 VERIFICATION OF REQUESTS

Sending Participants must:

a) Verify the authenticity of the request to send the Transfer Order and in cases where they cannot determine its authenticity immediately, inform the account holder at that moment, by the same medium in which it was presented, that it is in the process of verification; b) In cases where the request is deemed appropriate, inform their account holder by the means agreed upon for this purpose, indicating the “Reference Number”, the “Tracking Key”, as well as the time it was approved, including minutes and seconds, so that with this information the status of the order can be verified or any clarification requested, and c) In cases where the request is rejected, inform the account holder by the means agreed upon for this purpose, indicating the cause.

3.3 SEND OF TRANSFER ORDERS

Sending Participants must:

a) Send the respective Transfer Order to the Receiving Participant no later than thirty seconds after the time they inform the account holder of the approval of their request in accordance with item b) of the previous numeral.
For Transfer Orders in which they agree with their account holders that the send will be made on a date or time subsequent to the receipt of the request, the mentioned timeframe will begin from 06:00:00 hours Mexico City time on the established day or on the agreed day and time, as the case may be, and b) Send to the Receiving Participant the information of each Transfer Order, including the fields “Reference Number”, “Payment Concept” and “Tracking Key”.

4. CANCELLATION OF TRANSFER ORDERS

Sending Participants may send instructions to the SPEI to cancel Transfer Orders. The system will not cancel Accepted Transfer Orders.

5. LIQUIDATION OF TRANSFER ORDERS

The liquidation of Transfer Orders will be carried out from a compensation process in terms of the Payment Systems Law, which will consider the balance of the SPEI Accounts, the Transfer Orders pending liquidation, as well as their priority. To this effect, Sending Participants must indicate for each Transfer Order or for a set of them, if their priority is normal or high.

Once the liquidation of the Transfer Orders is effected and once the SPEI sends to the Sending Participants and Receiving Participants the respective Liquidation Notices, the mentioned orders will be considered Accepted Transfer Orders for the purposes of the aforementioned Payment Systems Law and will be firm, irrevocable, enforceable and opposable against third parties.

Transfer Orders that are not liquidated will remain retained in the system for subsequent liquidation. At the close of operations, those that have not been liquidated will be cancelled.

6. CREDITING OF ACCEPTED TRANSFER ORDERS

Receiving Participants must:

a) Credit the amount of the Accepted Transfer Orders in the accounts of the beneficiaries, within thirty seconds following the receipt of the Liquidation Notice.
This timeframe will not be mandatory for Accepted Transfer Orders received between the SPEI opening time specified in the Manual and 05:59:59 hours Mexico City time, regarding which their amount must be credited in the accounts of the beneficiaries in question, no later than 06:00:30 hours, as well as in the other cases provided in the Manual, and b) Provide the beneficiaries with the relevant information of the Accepted Transfer Orders, including “Payment Concept”, “Tracking Key” and “Reference Number”. The foregoing, through the communication mechanisms agreed upon for this purpose or, when the amount must be delivered at the counter in cash, at the moment of making the respective payment.

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7. RETURN OF ACCEPTED TRANSFER ORDERS

7.1 The Receiving Participant must return an Accepted Transfer Order by sending a new Transfer Order, when:

a) It is sent to a non-existent account in the Receiving Participant; b) A judicial mandate or a financial authority prevents the beneficiary's account from receiving deposits; c) Regarding Accepted Transfer Orders whose amount must be delivered at the counter in cash, there is no agreement with the Sending Participant to process this type of orders; d) Regarding the orders referred to in the previous item, regarding which there is an agreement with the Sending Participant, the agreed timeframe for the delivery of resources to the beneficiaries has elapsed, which must not exceed thirty calendar days; e) It receives other types of Transfer Orders considered in the Manual as optional and regarding which it has previously notified the Bank of Mexico of its decision not to receive them, or f) Any of the other circumstances provided in the Manual occur.

7.2 The returns must be made no later than sixty seconds after the receipt of the Liquidation Notice. This timeframe will not be mandatory for Transfer Orders:

a) That are made between Participants on their own account; b) Received between the SPEI opening time specified in the Manual and 05:59:59 hours Mexico City time. In this case, they must be returned no later than 06:01:00 hours; c) To which numeral 7.1 items c) and e) refer. In these cases, the timeframe to make the return will be the close of operations of the next banking business day following their receipt; d) Referred to in numeral 7.1 item d). In these cases, the Receiving Participant must make its return within the agreed timeframe for such effect, which may not exceed six days, and e) Provided in the other circumstances mentioned in the Manual.

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7.3 Once the Transfer Order subject to return is received, its amount must be credited to the original applicant's account, no later than thirty seconds after the receipt of the corresponding Liquidation Notice.

8. BALANCES AT CLOSE OF OPERATIONS

The balances of the SPEI Accounts of Participants that are credit institutions will be transferred, at the close of operations, to the accounts denominated in national currency that the Bank of Mexico itself maintains for them in terms of numerals M.71 of Circular 2019/95 and BD.5 of Circular 1/2006, both issued by the Central Bank.

Regarding other Participants, the balances of their SPEI Accounts at the close of operations will remain in the Bank of Mexico, without generating interest, and will be credited to the mentioned Accounts at the immediate next opening of operations.

9. PAYMENT OF INTERESTS

Participants must pay interest:

a) To the applicant of the Transfer Order, when they fail to comply with the timeframes indicated in numeral 3.3 item a) or 7.3, and b) To the beneficiary of the Transfer Order when the timeframe provided in numeral 6 item a) is not complied with.

To calculate the referred interests, it must be: a) multiplied by the Banked Funding Weighted Rate, closed to four decimals, made known by the Bank of Mexico on the banking business day previous to that in which the non-compliance occurred, by the amount of the Transfer Order in question, including cents; b) multiplied by the result by the number of minutes of delay, excluding seconds, and c) divide the obtained result by 518,400. The amount of the interest will be the result of closing to two decimals the quantity obtained from this division.

10. CONTINGENCIES

In case any event that affects the operations of the SPEI occurs, the Bank of Mexico may:

a) Extend the operating hours of the SPEI or suspend its service; b) Instruct any Participant that suspends the send of Transfer Orders to the SPEI, or c) Instruct Participants to continue with the operation of the SPEI through the use of contingency procedures provided in the Manual.

11. GENERAL PROVISIONS

11.1 These Rules, the Manual and the Contingency Manual for Operations with CLS Bank International (CLS) constitute the internal norms of the SPEI for the purpose of what is stated in the Payment Systems Law.

11.2 The messages, notices and other information that Participants exchange with the SPEI must be subject to the timeframes, protocols, formats, send methods and procedures provided in the Manual.

11.3 The timeframes established for the operation of the SPEI will be made known by the Bank of Mexico in the Manual, who may modify them prior notice given to Participants with at least one banking business day in advance to the date on which it intends to take effect.

11.4 Participants must pay the Bank of Mexico for using the SPEI, the amount corresponding according to the fees specified in the Annex of these Rules.

11.5 The fees that the Bank of Mexico charges Participants for the return of Transfer Orders will be borne by the Sending Participant of the original Transfer Order.

11.6 Participants may not charge each other commissions for the send, receipt, return or crediting of Transfer Orders, except when it concerns Transfer Orders whose amount must be delivered at the counter in cash.

11.7 Receiving Participants may not charge beneficiaries any commission.

11.8 Participants may send and receive, through the Bank of Mexico, Transfer Orders of CLS in accordance with what is provided in these Rules.
When for any circumstance a Participant cannot send to CLS or receive from it Transfer Orders, said Participant must be subject to the procedure described in the Contingency Manual for Operations with CLS.

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11.9 The Bank of Mexico may suspend or terminate, at any time, the operations of the SPEI with one or more Participants, when in the judgment of the Bank itself, the respective Participant(s) may generate risks in the operation of the payment systems; or when they carry out operations in contravention to the internal norms of the SPEI or to the contract they have celebrated to participate in the SPEI.

ANNEX

FEES IN THE SPEI

Fees for the calculation of the SPEI monthly quota

Concept Amount

For Transfer Order sent:1 a) In the timeframe between the SPEI opening time established in the Manual and 10:00 hours: $0.10 b) In the timeframe between 10:00 hours and the SPEI closing time established in the Manual: $0.50

For Transfer Order sent to CLS: €1.002

For Transfer Request sent: $0.50

For return received:
a) In the timeframe between the SPEI opening time established in the Manual and 10:00 hours: $0.10 b) In the timeframe between 10:00 hours and the SPEI closing time established in the Manual: $0.50

Quantity of information retransmitted at the request of the Participant: $0.01/Byte

TRANSITIONAL CLAUSES

FIRST. This Circular will enter into force on the next banking business day following its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation.

From that date, Circular 1/2006 issued on May 19, 2006 and its modifications made known through Circular 1/2006 Bis of February 19, 2007, Circular 1/2006 Bis 1 of May 11, 2007, Circular 5/2008 of February 19, 2008, Circular 15/2008 of May 2, 2008, Circular 58/2008 of November 13, 2008 and Circular 11/2010 of April 12, 2010 are repealed.

SECOND. What is established in numerals 3.1 item c) and 3.3 item a) second paragraph, will enter into force on September 3, 2010.

Numerals 6 item a) second paragraph and 7.2 item b), will enter into force on June 1, 2011.

THIRD. What is established in numerals 3.2 item b), 3.3 item b) and 6 item b), will enter into force on April 1, 2011.

FOURTH. The timeframes of thirty seconds referred to in numerals 3.3 item a) first paragraph, 6 item a) first paragraph and 7.3, will enter into force on June 1, 2011. Before that date, Participants must adjust to the following gradual regime:

a) During the period between the entry into force of this Circular and September 3, 2010, the timeframes will be up to ten minutes, and b) During the period between September 4, 2010 and May 31, 2011, the timeframes will be up to five minutes.

FIFTH. The timeframe of sixty seconds referred to in numeral 7.2, will enter into force on June 1, 2011. Before that date, Participants must adjust to the following gradual regime:

a) During the period between the entry into force of this Circular and September 3, 2010, the timeframe will be up to twenty minutes, and b) During the period between September 4, 2010 and May 31, 2011, the timeframe will be up to ten minutes.

SIXTH. The contracts to participate in the SPEI celebrated with the Bank of Mexico prior to the entry into force of these Rules will maintain their validity, so no new contract must be signed due to what is established in this Circular.

For this reason, the references to Circular 1/2006 provided in the mentioned contracts will be understood as made to these Rules.

What is established in these Rules will be applicable to legal entities other than those indicated in numeral 2, that on the date of its entry into force, have signed a contract with the Bank of Mexico that documents the provision of SPEI services.

1 All types of Transfer Order are considered, except returns accepted by the system. 2 For the determination of the amount in national currency, the following will be used: a) the equivalence of the Euro with the United States dollar (US$) published in the Official Gazette of the Federation the month immediately preceding that of the payment date, and b) the exchange rate that the Bank of Mexico publishes in the Official Gazette of the Federation on the banking business day immediately previous to that in which the payment is made.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 OFFICIAL GAZETTE (Second Section) 16

Mexico, D.F., June 14, 2010.- BANK OF MEXICO: The Director of Central Banking Provisions, Fernando Luis Corvera Caraza.- Rubric.- The Director of Operations and Payments Systems, Ricardo Medina Alvarez.- Rubric.

For any consultation regarding the content of this Circular, please go to the Authorization, Consultations and Legal Control Management, located at Avenida 5 de Mayo number 2, sixth floor, Centro Neighborhood, Mexico City, D.F., C.P. 06059, or to the phones 5237.2308, 5237.2000 ext. 3200 or 5237.2317.