Circular Letter No. 3214 — Defines Operational Procedures for the Circulating Medium System (CIR) within the Brazilian Payments System

CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 003214

Defines operational procedures for the Circulating Medium System - CIR, within the Brazilian Payments System.

In view of the provisions of Article 2 and Article 6 of Circular 3,298, of November 1, 2005, and in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of Circular 3,109, of April 10, 2002, we clarify that cash operations carried out through the Circulating Medium System - CIR must observe the procedures defined in this circular letter.

OPERATIONS WITH THE CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

2. Commercial banks, multiple banks with commercial portfolios, and savings banks may register requests for cash withdrawal or deposit in advance or on the same day, with the latter being subject to the observance of routines defined by the Circulating Medium Department - Mecir.

3. The inclusion of the request referred to in item 2 will only be accepted when there is a record of forecast of withdrawals and deposits covering, at minimum, the period delimited by the next business day from the date of execution of the requested operation and by the last business day of the following week.

4. Cash exchange operations are exempt from prior request registration, with service subject to the availability of the Central Bank of Brazil.

OPERATIONS WITH THE CUSTODIAN

5. Commercial banks, multiple banks with commercial portfolios, and savings banks must register requests for cash withdrawal for service by the Custodian, observing that:

I - those made with a minimum advance of forty-eight hours are guaranteed service by the Custodian; and

II - those registered with a period less than forty-eight hours depend on confirmation by the Custodian.

6. Cash deposit requests are not subject to the establishment of a confirmation period.

7. Cash exchange operations are exempt from prior request registration, with service subject to the availability of the Custodian.

8. The Custodian may cancel confirmed withdrawal requests due to the occurrence of force majeure or unforeseen circumstances that prevent operations.

9. Commercial banks, multiple banks with commercial portfolios, and savings banks may cancel unexecuted requests, observing the provisions of item 12.

10. The Custodian may establish internal routines necessary for the execution of services to the banking network, related to the custody of cash by the Central Bank of Brazil.

11. The maximum percentage of remuneration, referred to in Article 2 of Circular 3,298, of November 1, 2005, applicable to each confirmed withdrawal request and each deposit executed in the network of premises of the Custodian authorized to perform custody services, valid for the entire national territory, shall be 0.16% (sixteen hundredths percent).

12. Remuneration shall not be due when:

I - the Custodian cancels a confirmed withdrawal request due to the occurrence of force majeure or unforeseen circumstances that prevent the operation;

II - the financial institution cancels a withdrawal request not yet confirmed by the Custodian; and

III - the financial institution cancels a cash deposit request.

MOVEMENT IN RESERVE BANK ACCOUNTS

13. On the date scheduled for the execution of cash withdrawal, upon opening the Reserve Transfer System - STR, a transfer will be made to a temporary account held by the requesting financial institution, via debit in its Reserve Bank account at the Central Bank of Brazil:

I - the amount corresponding to the withdrawal request; and

II - the amount of remuneration, when it involves movement with the Custodian.

14. The amounts transferred in accordance with item 13 will remain in the temporary account until the Central Bank of Brazil or the Custodian registers the execution of the withdrawal operation.

15. The difference between the maximum remuneration amount, transferred as cited in item II of item 13, and the amount actually charged by the Custodian, will be credited to the Reserve Bank account of the Financial Institution when the withdrawal operation is registered.

16. If the financial institution does not have sufficient fund provision in the Reserve Bank account at the opening of the STR to cover the entry referred to in item 13, the request will remain pending service.

17. In case of cancellation of the withdrawal request, the amount corresponding to the withdrawal request will be returned to the Reserve Bank account of the financial institution.

18. In the case provided for in item 17, the return to the Reserve Bank account of the financial institution of the remuneration amount will not be processed, when this is due.

19. The credits corresponding to cash deposit operations will be made in the Reserve Bank account of the financial institution at the moment of their execution, at which time the corresponding debits for remuneration will also occur, in the case of deposits made at the Custodian.

EXECUTION OF CASH WITHDRAWAL OR DEPOSIT

20. The execution of the cash withdrawal or deposit operation depends on the presentation by the financial institution, to the Central Bank of Brazil or the Custodian, as the case may be, of the corresponding document authorizing cash movement, namely:

I - Financial Institution Withdrawal - SIF; and

II - Financial Institution Deposit - DIF.

21. The documents referred to in the previous item must be signed by those who, by virtue of constitutive acts, assembly or board of directors decisions, grant of mandate, or act of competent authority, hold powers to represent the financial institution in court or out of it, or by a duly accredited proxy.

22. Commercial banks, multiple banks with commercial portfolios, and savings banks must maintain, with Mecir and the Custodian, an updated registry of the signatures of persons accredited for the purposes provided for in item 20.

23. The Central Bank of Brazil and the Custodian may, before executing the withdrawal operation, modify its quantitative composition, provided that the original financial value is maintained.

24. The minimum unit for cash withdrawal or deposit at the Custodian is the bundle of banknotes, consisting of one hundred units of the same denomination. The minimum unit for cash withdrawal or deposit at the Central Bank of Brazil is the thousand of banknotes, consisting of one thousand units of the same denomination. In both cases, fractional quantities are not admitted.

VERIFICATION OF CASH

25. The cash received from financial institutions holding Reserve Bank accounts will subsequently be verified by the Central Bank of Brazil or the Custodian.

26. The differences found, whether less or more, will be communicated to the financial institutions throughout the day via a specific message from the Message Catalog of the Brazilian Payments System, as well as the final daily balance of differences, which will aggregate the occurrences found in operations carried out with the Central Bank of Brazil and with the Custodian.

27. In the case where the final daily balance of differences is against the financial institution, a regularization request message will be issued on the date of finding, awaiting the respective debit authorization to be posted in the Reserve Bank account on the first subsequent business day.

28. In the case where the final daily balance of differences is in favor of the financial institution, the respective credit will be posted in the Reserve Bank account of the favored financial institution on the first subsequent business day.

29. In the absence of debit authorization to regularize a shortage, as per item 27, the amounts due will be compensated in the next deposit operation executed by the financial institution with the Central Bank of Brazil or the Custodian.

COUNTERFEIT NATIONAL BANKNOTES AND COINS

30. National banknotes and metallic coins identified by financial institutions as counterfeit or of dubious legitimacy must be registered in the CIR using specific messages from the Message Catalog of the Brazilian Payments System.

31. The banknotes and metallic coins referred to in item 30 must be delivered to Mecir, in Rio de Janeiro, or to its Technical Departments located in the cities of Belém - PA, Belo Horizonte - MG, Brasília - DF, Curitiba - PR, Fortaleza - CE, Porto Alegre - RS, Recife - PE, Salvador - BA, and São Paulo - SP, accompanied by the Forwarding Receipt - RE document.

32. Financial institutions may track the processing of each banknote and coin sent for analysis, as well as learn the result of the examination performed and any credits regarding specimens identified as legitimate, by using a specific message from the Message Catalog of the Brazilian Payments System.

33. The documents referred to in items 20 and 31 observe the standards contained in the models annexed to this circular letter.

34. This Circular Letter enters into force on the date of its publication.

35. Circular Letters No. 3,003, of April 16, 2002, and No. 3,210, of September 22, 2005, are hereby repealed.

Rio de Janeiro, November 1, 2005.

Circulating Medium Department

João Sidney de Figueiredo Filho
Chief, Interim

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Note: The annexes cited in item 33 of this Circular Letter are available at the electronic address http://www.bcb.gov.br, under the link "Legislation, Norms and Manuals/Normatives".