Circular 8/2021 — Modifying Circular 36/2010 (Commission Registration)

Monday, November 22, 2021 OFFICIAL GAZETTE 159 BANK OF MEXICO CIRCULAR 8/2021 addressed to Credit Institutions, the National Financial Development Institution for Agricultural, Rural, Forestry and Fisheries Development, Brokerage Houses, Regulated Multiple-Object Financial Societies, Electronic Payment Fund Institutions, and Collective Financing Institutions, regarding modifications to Circular 36/2010 (Commission Registration).

A logo appears at the margin, stating: Bank of Mexico. - “2021: Year of Independence”.

CIRCULAR 8/2021 TO CREDIT INSTITUTIONS, THE NATIONAL FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTION FOR AGRICULTURAL, RURAL, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT, BROKERAGE HOUSES, REGULATED MULTIPLE-OBJECT FINANCIAL SOCIETIES, ELECTRONIC PAYMENT FUND INSTITUTIONS AND COLLECTIVE FINANCING INSTITUTIONS:

SUBJECT: MODIFICATIONS TO CIRCULAR 36/2010 (COMMISSION REGISTRATION)

The Bank of Mexico, with the purpose of continuing to promote the sound development of the financial system, the proper functioning of payment systems, as well as protecting the interests of the public, considers it necessary to modify the regulation issued by this Central Institute regarding commission registration, in order to improve the efficiency of the registration process through the use of electronic means, harmonize the obligations of electronic payment fund institutions and collective financing institutions regarding commission registration with those of credit institutions and regulated multiple-object financial societies, as well as provide greater transparency regarding the acts or events that give rise to the charging of commissions by financial entities through the use of a taxonomy to facilitate the administration of their registration, which will allow the development of better comparison tools for the benefit of users.

For the above, based on Articles 28, sixth and seventh paragraphs, of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, 24, 26 and 36, of the Bank of Mexico Law, 4 and 6, of the Law for Transparency and Ordering of Financial Services, 48 and 97, of the Credit Institutions Law, 4, first paragraph, 8, fourth and eighth paragraphs, 10, first paragraph, 12 Bis, first paragraph, in relation to 20 Quater, fraction IV, 14 Bis, first paragraph, in relation to 17, fraction I, and 14 Bis 1, in relation to 25 Bis 1, fraction IV, of the Internal Regulations of the Bank of Mexico, which grant it the authority to issue provisions through the General Directorate of Payment Systems and Market Infrastructures, the General Legal Directorate, and the General Directorate of Financial System Affairs of the Bank of Mexico, respectively, as well as Second, fractions I, X and XVII, of the Agreement on the Assignment of Administrative Units of the Bank of Mexico, it has resolved to modify the first paragraph, as well as the definitions of “Commission”, “Credit”, “Financial Entity” and “Payment Services” of Article 1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3 and 4, add the definition of “Commission Registration System” and a final paragraph to Article 1, a first paragraph to Article 2, Articles 2.1.4, 2.1.5, 2.5 and 2.6, as well as repeal the definition of “Means of Disposition” of Article 1, Article 5 and Annexes 1 and 2, of the “General Provisions regarding Commission Registration”, contained in Circular 36/2010, to remain in the following terms:

GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING COMMISSION REGISTRATION

“1. … For the purposes of these provisions, the following shall be understood, in singular or plural:

160 OFFICIAL GAZETTE Monday, November 22, 2021

Commission: any charge, regardless of its denomination or modality other than interest, that a Financial Entity intends to charge or charges, as the case may be, to a client for Credits and Payment Services.

Credits: credits, loans or other financings granted to clients of Financial Entities, as part of the respective services that these offer to the general public, including those credits, loans and financings granted through collective financing institutions, as well as those previously granted by a third party that Financial Entities acquire as part of their activities, for a contracted principal amount, for each of these, lower than the equivalent in national currency to nine hundred thousand UDIS, as well as Guaranteed Housing Credits for any amount, in all cases documented through adhesion contracts.

…

Financial Entities: credit institutions, regulated multiple-object financial societies, electronic payment fund institutions, and collective financing institutions.

Means of Disposition: Repealed.

Payment Services: acts related to the use of Means of Disposition and cash, that the respective Financial Entities allow their clients to carry out as part of the operations these have entered into with them.

Commission Registration System: the information system through which, in accordance with the general provisions issued by the Bank of Mexico through Circular 13/2012, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on September 17, 2012, and its modifications: a) Financial Entities may: i) present the requests referred to in these provisions, as well as the information and, if applicable, additional documentation, as specified in the help contained in the Bank of Mexico website located at << http://www.banxico.org.mx >>, in the section titled “Forms requested from financial intermediaries”; ii) consult the additional information requirements that Financial Entities receive from the Bank of Mexico regarding such requests, and iii) present responses to notices from the Bank of Mexico regarding such requests, and b) the Bank of Mexico, in terms of the provisions applicable to this system, may communicate to Financial Entities: i) information requirements, and ii) informational documents.

…

Except for the terms defined above, the other terms included in these provisions shall have the same meanings as those expressly stated in the Law for Transparency and Ordering of Financial Services.”

“2. … Financial Entities shall register with the Bank of Mexico, in the form and terms set forth in these Provisions, the Commissions, as well as their modifications.”

…

“2.1.1 The registration of Commissions kept by the Bank of Mexico, in terms of the Law for Transparency and Ordering of Financial Services, is integrated by the following: I. The Commissions that Financial Entities have registered with the Bank of Mexico prior to the entry into force of these Provisions; II. The Commissions that Financial Entities register in accordance with the procedure established in these Provisions, and III. The modifications that Financial Entities make to the Commissions mentioned in the preceding fractions I and II. Likewise, the Bank of Mexico will keep a historical record of the Commissions that, in terms of these Rules, have been removed from the registration referred to in the preceding paragraph.”

“2.1.2 For the purposes of what is provided in fractions II and III of the preceding Article 2.1.1, Financial Entities must present their Commission registration requests through the Commission Registration System.”

“2.1.3 Commission registration requests or increases to those already registered that Financial Entities present to the Bank of Mexico must contain, at least, the following information: I. The act or event with respect to which the corresponding Financial Entity intends to charge the Commission indicated in said request, as well as its characteristics and the indication of the category to which said act or event corresponds, among those established by the Bank of Mexico in the catalog published on the Bank of Mexico website; II. The amount to which the Commission would amount, or, if applicable, the calculation method; III. The currency in which the Commission would be denominated; IV. The periodicity with which the Commission would be due; V. The identifier of the Credit product or Payment Service with respect to which the Commission would be applicable. In the event that the Financial Entity does not have the aforementioned product identifier corresponding to the Commission it seeks to register, it must register it by presenting a request to the Bank of Mexico through the Commission Registration System, and VI. If applicable, any other information indicated in the operational aids for filling out the Commission registration request, available in the Commission Registration System.

In addition to what is provided in the preceding fractions, the Bank of Mexico, in accordance with what is provided in the following Article 2.4, regarding the Commission or increase that the Financial Entity has requested to register, may require it for information related, among other aspects, to the costs it would incur in relation to the Credits or Payment Services whose Commission it seeks to register, as well as to the justification for the charging and amount of said Commission. In the case of increase requests, the Bank of Mexico may request from the Financial Entity in question, additional information related to efficiency gains in carrying out the operation or providing the service whose Commission the latter seeks to increase, the manner in which such efficiency gains are reflected in improvements in service to users, and evidence that such gains, if any, are insufficient to compensate for variations in costs that could give rise to the requested increase, as specified in the operational aids available in the Commission Registration System.”

162 OFFICIAL GAZETTE Monday, November 22, 2021

“2.1.4 In the event that a Financial Entity seeks to register a Commission whose act or event and characteristics do not correspond to any of the categories established by the Bank of Mexico pursuant to fraction I of the preceding Article 2.1.3, such Financial Entity must present an additional request to the Bank of Mexico to include the proposed category in said list. For these purposes, Financial Entities must present the referred request through the Commission Registration System. The Bank of Mexico, based on the information presented by the Financial Entity pursuant to the preceding paragraph, will determine the admissibility or inadmissibility of the request, which it will notify to the Financial Entity in question, through the Commission Registration System, within a period not exceeding fifteen Business Days.”

“2.1.5 The Financial Entity that, on December 31 of each year, maintains Commissions registered in the Bank of Mexico’s registry, must, no later than the last Business Day of February of the following year, confirm to the Bank of Mexico, through the Commission Registration System, those Commissions that, on that same date, must remain registered to the extent that such Financial Entity continues to offer to the public the Credit products or Payment Services corresponding to said Commissions and, in the event that its offering has ceased, that the corresponding legal relationships regarding said products or services that it has maintained with those Clients who previously entered into them, persist.

Financial Entities must maintain documentary evidence through which they prove the charging of those Commissions that they have confirmed pursuant to this Article, so that they can deliver it to the Bank of Mexico if requested.

The Bank of Mexico, on the first Business Day of April, will remove from the Commission Registry those that the Financial Entity in question has not confirmed pursuant to what is provided in the first paragraph of this Article.”

“2.2.1 Requests for registration of reduction in amount and cancellation of existing Commissions Requests for registration of reduction in the amount of already registered Commissions, as well as their cancellation, that Financial Entities present to the Bank of Mexico, will be considered received by it when, within a period of two Business Days counted from their presentation, in accordance with the indication in the preceding Article 2.1.2, the Bank of Mexico itself does not communicate to the respective Financial Entity, in terms of Article 2.4, that the information presented by it is insufficient or contains errors.”

“2.2.2 Requests for registration of Commissions or increases to existing ones Requests for registration of Commissions or increases to those already registered that Financial Entities present to the Bank of Mexico will be considered as received by it when, within a maximum period of ten Business Days counted from their presentation in accordance with the indication in Article 2.1.2, the Bank of Mexico itself does not communicate to the respective Financial Entity, in terms of Article 2.4, that the information presented by it is insufficient or contains errors.”

“2.3 … No later than the expiration of the periods referred to in the aforementioned Articles 2.2.1 and 2.2.2, as applicable, the Bank of Mexico, through the Commission Registration System, will notify the Financial Entity in question that the request complied with what is provided in Article 2.1, indicating for this purpose the date on which the Commission was registered.

In the event that the Bank of Mexico has not notified what is stated in the preceding paragraph, nor has made any request in terms of what is provided in Article 2.4, the respective Commission will be understood as registered upon the expiration of the period indicated in Articles 2.2.1 and 2.2.2, as applicable.”

“2.4 … When the information that Financial Entities present when requesting the registration of any Commission or increase to those already registered, as well as the reduction in amount or cancellation of those already registered, is insufficient or contains errors or omissions, the Bank of Mexico, within the periods referred to in Articles 2.2.1 or 2.2.2, as the case may be, will notify such situation to them through the Commission Registration System. If applicable, the Financial Entity receiving the referred notification may present a new request in terms of Article 2.1 to remedy the insufficiency or the errors or omissions, as applicable.”

Monday, November 22, 2021 OFFICIAL GAZETTE 163

“2.5 VALIDITY AND LEGALITY OF COMMISSION REGISTRATION The registration with the Bank of Mexico of the Commissions that Financial Entities carry out in terms of Article 6 of the Law for Transparency and Ordering of Financial Services does not prejudge or validate the compliance or legality of the Credits and Payment Services referred to the respective Commissions, nor acts or operations carried out in contravention of the laws or provisions emanating from it, so it will be the responsibility of Financial Entities to observe the applicable provisions.”

“2.6 REGISTRATION BY RECENTLY AUTHORIZED FINANCIAL ENTITIES The person who obtains authorization to constitute and operate as any of the Financial Entities may register with the Bank of Mexico the Commissions it intends to charge in its capacity as a Financial Entity, in accordance with these Provisions, at least within a period of forty Business Days prior to the date on which it intends to start operations with such capacity.

In the event that a Financial Entity seeks to acquire, by any legal act, creditor rights of any Credit or of provider of any Payment Service that were previously granted by a third party and that such Credit or Payment Service generates Commissions charged to the debtor or user of the Credit or Payment Service, it must carry out the registration of said Commissions in accordance with these Provisions, within the periods established in Article 6 of the Law for Transparency and Ordering of Financial Services.

As an exception to what is provided in the preceding paragraph, if the referred Commissions were previously registered with the Bank of Mexico in accordance with these Provisions prior to the acquisition of the referred rights by the respective Financial Entity, it may present, at least within thirty days following the celebration of the act by which it acquires such rights, the request for registration of said Commissions, provided that these remain subject to the same amounts, terms and conditions as those previously registered. In this case, the referred Financial Entity, by virtue of the acquisition of the aforementioned rights, may continue charging the previously registered Commissions during the period in which it carries out the new registration of said Commissions in accordance with the above.”

“3. PROCEDURE FOR OBSERVATIONS AND, IF APPLICABLE, VETO ON COMMISSIONS From the date on which a Financial Entity has registered with the Bank of Mexico, in terms of what is provided in Article 2.3, any new Commission or increased the amount of any already registered, the latter will have a maximum period of fifteen Business Days to formulate observations regarding said Commission. For this purpose, the following procedure shall apply: I. In the event that the Bank of Mexico intends to formulate observations and, if applicable, exercise the power of veto, it will communicate this to the respective Financial Entity, through the Commission Registration System, no later than within ten Business Days following the date on which it registered the Commission in question, in terms of Article 2.3. II. The Financial Entity will have a maximum period of three Business Days, counted from the day following that on which it received the notification from the Bank of Mexico pursuant to the preceding fraction, to manifest what is convenient for its rights through a communication presented via the Commission Registration System. III. In the event that the Financial Entity does not provide, within the period provided in the preceding fraction II, the information or elements that, in the judgment of the Bank of Mexico, justify avoiding the formulation of the observation of the Commission, or does not communicate its decision to withdraw its request, the Bank of Mexico will proceed to formulate the observation.

164 OFFICIAL GAZETTE Monday, November 22, 2021

The Bank of Mexico may veto at any time the Commissions regarding which it has formulated and published observations, in terms of what is provided in Article 6 of the Law for Transparency and Ordering of Financial Services. In this case, the Bank of Mexico will notify the referred veto to the respective Financial Entity through the Commission Registration System.”

“4. … The Bank of Mexico will publish on its website the Commissions registered in accordance with these Provisions, as well as the observations it may have formulated regarding those requested by the respective Financial Entities and, if applicable, the veto it has resolved to impose in accordance with Article 6 of the Law for Transparency and Ordering of Financial Services.”

“5. Repealed.”

“ANNEX 1 Repealed.”

“ANNEX 2 Repealed.”

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

FIRST.- This Circular will enter into force one hundred and fifty calendar days, counted from the publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation of the agreement by which the Bank of Mexico begins to make known, on its website, the catalog of categories of Commissions referred to in Article 2.1.3, fraction I, of this Circular, without prejudice to what is stated in the following transitory provisions.

SECOND.- What is provided in Article 1 of this Circular, regarding the definition of Financial Entities, will enter into force on the Business Day following the publication of this same Circular in the Official Gazette of the Federation.

THIRD.- Electronic payment fund institutions and collective financing institutions that, prior to the date of publication of this Circular in the Official Gazette of the Federation, have started operations in the capacity of the referred institution that corresponds, in accordance with the authorization they have obtained for this purpose, will have a period of ninety Business Days counted from the Business Day following that of the aforementioned publication, to present to the Bank of Mexico their respective requests for registration of the Commissions that correspond. Regarding this, the registration and request for said Commissions must be carried out in accordance with the “General Provisions regarding Commission Registration”, issued by the Bank of Mexico through Circular 36/2010, in the terms that are in force at the time of presenting the corresponding request.

Electronic payment fund institutions and collective financing institutions that, in accordance with the respective authorizations they have obtained to organize and operate in the capacity of the referred institution that corresponds, start operations with such capacity within the period comprised between the date of publication of this Circular in the Official Gazette of the Federation and the entry into force of this in accordance with what is stated in the first transitory provision above, will have a period of ninety Business Days, counted from the Business Day following that on which they started operations, to carry out the request for registration of their Commissions, in the terms of the Provisions cited in the preceding paragraph that are in force at the time of presenting the corresponding request.

Electronic payment fund institutions and collective financing institutions that, in accordance with what is indicated in this transitory provision, must present to the Bank of Mexico their respective requests for registration of Commissions, on a date prior to the entry into force of this Circular, must do so through the system known as SAIF-WEB, which the Bank of Mexico makes available to said institutions.

Monday, November 22, 2021 OFFICIAL GAZETTE 165 Mexico City, November 12, 2021.- BANK OF MEXICO: Director General of Payment Systems and Market Infrastructures, Manuel Miguel Ángel Díaz Díaz.- Signature.- General Legal Director, Luis Urrutia Corral.- Signature.- General Director of Financial System Affairs, José Luis Negrín Muñoz.- Signature. For any inquiries regarding the content of this Circular, the Bank of Mexico is available through the Directorate of Authorizations and Banking Sanctions at telephone (55) 5237-2000 extension 3200. -2000 extension 3200.