Circular Letter No. 3843 — Clarifies Procedures Established by Circular No. 3,854 of October 26, 2017, Regarding the Implementation of Centralized Clearing and Settlement for Payment Arrangements Subject to This System

The Head of the Department of Banking Operations and Payment Systems (Deban), using the attribution granted by him by art. 111, item II, letter “d”, of the Internal Regulations of the Central Bank of Brazil, annexed to Ordinance No. 84,287, of February 27, 2015, and taking into account the provisions of Circular No. 3,682, of November 4, 2013, and Circular No. 3,854, of October 26, 2017,

RESOLVES:

Art. 1. Payment Arrangement Initiators (PAIs), clearing institutions, and participants - issuers, acquirers, and home institutions (HIs) - of payment arrangements subject to the centralized clearing and settlement system must participate in the integrated tests referred to in art. 2 of Circular No. 3,854, of October 26, 2017, in the manner defined in the test plan prepared by the clearing house or the clearing and settlement service provider (Clearing House) that operates the system referred to in art. 26, item I, of the Regulation Annexed to Circular No. 3,682, of November 4, 2013.

Art. 2. For the purposes of the provision of art. 2, § 2, of Circular No. 3,854, of 2017, the Clearing House must prepare a unique document, to be signed by its legal representative, containing conclusive information on the individual fitness (or unfitness) of each participant in the integrated tests, sending it to the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB), in Brasília, by November 10, 2017, by mail addressed to the Department of Banking Operations and Payment Systems (Deban), with a digital copy sent to the electronic address dipag.deban@bcb.gov.br.

§ 1. For the formulation of the judgment regarding the individual fitness (or unfitness) of each participant, acquirer, or home institution, the Clearing House must:

I - evaluate each of the processes observable by it during the period of functional and quality tests, examples of which are the sending, receiving, processing, and return of all files and messages provided for within the scope of the centralized clearing and settlement system, including regarding the observation of the time schedules established in this system; and

II - evaluate the processing capacity of each participant during the volume tests, which must be compatible with its market participation, and also take into consideration the processing capacity of the homologation environment in relation to the production environment.

§ 2. The Clearing House must consider fit that participant who fulfills the test plan, understood as the achievement or exceeding, by the participant in question, of the metrics established for both functional and quality tests and volume tests.

Art. 3. For the purposes of the provision of art. 3, item II, of Circular No. 3,854, of 2017, home institutions and acquirers must prepare a declaration regarding their fitness (or unfitness) to operate safely in the centralized clearing and settlement system, with respect to their internal processes related to this system.

§ 1. The declaration referred to in the caput must be signed by the Director responsible for matters related to the Brazilian Payment System (SPB) or equivalent, and be sent to the BCB, in Brasília, by November 10, 2017, by mail addressed to Deban, with a digital copy sent to the electronic address dipag.deban@bcb.gov.br.

§ 2. For the formulation of the judgment regarding its fitness (or unfitness), referred to in the caput, home institutions and acquirers must evaluate their capacity to, through automated procedures:

I - if a home institution, timely effect credits in the accounts of receiving users, as well as to identify unrealized credits (with the respective reasons);

II - if an acquirer, reconcile the amounts to be paid with the information on the effect or rejection of credits in the accounts of receiving users.

§ 3. The evaluation of fitness referred to in the caput must also consider the existence of contingency procedures, compatible with the profile and operational size of the institution, for the execution of its internal processes related to the centralized clearing and settlement system, in accordance with the provisions of art. 20 of Resolution No. 4,557, of February 23, 2017, and art. 4 of Circular No. 3,681, of November 4, 2013, applicable, respectively, to financial institutions and payment institutions.

§ 4. The contingency procedures referred to in § 3 must be documented and tested, and both the documentation of these procedures and the results of their tests must be kept available to the BCB for at least 5 years.

Art. 4. Home institutions and acquirers must keep available to the BCB, for a minimum of 5 years, evidence of the adequate execution of their internal processes related to the centralized clearing and settlement system, examples of which are:

I - if a home institution, the account statements used in the integrated tests;

II - if an acquirer, the information sufficient to demonstrate the adequate treatment of return information provided by home institutions, with the write-off of settled transactions and the monitoring of rejected transactions.

Art. 5. This Circular Letter enters into force on the date of its publication.

Flávio Túlio Vilela