Circular Letter No. CC/2019/00000047

Circular Letter No. CC/2019/00000047
2019-05-15
Sent to:
Banks; Agricultural Mutual Credit Unions (not belonging to SICAM); Central Agricultural Mutual Credit Union; Agricultural Mutual Credit Union, Savings Banks, Credit Financial Institutions; Electronic Money Institutions; Payment Institutions; Credit Finance Companies, Investment Companies, Finance Lease Companies, Mutual Guarantee Companies, Factoring Companies, Fund Management Companies, Regional Development Companies, Credit Securitization Fund Management Companies, Microcredit Finance Companies and Currency Exchange Agencies. Mod. 40000375/T – 01/14 Subject: Dissemination by the banking system regarding personal identification documents

1. Framework
   The Bank of Portugal provides, at the request of individuals, a service for disseminating information regarding situations of loss, theft, robbery, forgery, counterfeiting, and illicit use of personal identification documents (abbreviated as “DIP”), with the addressees being entities subject to the supervision of the Bank of Portugal, hereinafter referred to as Institutions. The provision to individuals of a rapid means of communication with the banking system, which allows overcoming the difficulties associated with the number and dispersion of the institutions that comprise it, with the objective of informing about situations involving, inter alia, the loss, theft, robbery, forgery, counterfeiting, and illicit use of personal identification documents, is relevant in the prevention and combating of the illicit use, actual or potential, of such documents by third parties, as well as of their consequences for their respective holders and for the banking system itself. This service, in addition to its manifest utility for citizens, allows credit institutions to reinforce their internal prevention mechanisms and combat illicit situations, avoiding the grave legal and patrimonial consequences that often arise from the fraudulent use of personal identification documents by someone other than their actual holders. The dissemination of the aforementioned requests will be carried out by taking advantage of the channels already used today for the dissemination by Institutions of official letters from judicial entities and other public entities, a service that the Bank of Portugal ensures within the framework of the duty of cooperation it has with these entities.

Without prejudice to other forms of access to the service, the Bank of Portugal will prioritize the receipt of requests through the use of an electronic solution made available for this purpose on the Bank Client Portal (https://clientebancario.bportugal.pt/).
The Bank of Portugal warns that this service is not intended for situations of loss, theft, robbery, forgery, counterfeiting, and illicit use involving bank cards, checks, or other payment means, and that their respective holders should, in such situations, contact the issuing entities as soon as possible.

2. Dissemination of Requests
   Requests will be disseminated by Institutions subject to the supervision of the Bank of Portugal, listed in a list made available on the Bank Client Portal, comprising all institutions authorized to receive deposit values and to conclude consumer credit contracts, corresponding to the relevant universe for knowledge of situations of potential or actual illicit use of personal identification documents. Only requests that expressly refer to situations of loss, theft, robbery, forgery, counterfeiting, and illicit use of personal identification documents, as well as requests that, in the reverse sense, inform about the recovery, replacement, or other alteration regarding the status or validity of documents subject to a previous request, are admissible for the purposes of making this service available by the Bank of Portugal. For the present purpose, the following documents shall be considered exclusively as personal identification documents: the citizen card, the identity card, the taxpayer card, the passport, and the residence authorization in national territory.

3. Operationalization of the Service
   The Bank of Portugal only recognizes legitimacy to request dissemination to the holder of the documents or to their representative, and for this purpose, an electronic solution and a form designated “request for dissemination of information regarding personal identification documents” (attached to this Circular Letter) are made available on the Bank Client Portal, which allow both the filling out and electronic submission of the request, as well as its printing, filling out, and subsequent sending of the request by mail, fax, or e-mail to:

Bank of Portugal
Branch
Praça da Liberdade, n.º 92
4000 – 322 Porto
Fax: 222 004 460
E-mail: ofbp@bportugal.pt

It is a necessary requirement for the realization of the dissemination to attach an official report or declaration from a judicial or police entity that explains what happened with the personal identification documents in question, and the applicant may attach other information or related documentation that they consider relevant to be disseminated. The operationalization of the service will follow the following procedure:
a) The applicant fills out the form, ensuring the availability of data for filling out the fields marked as mandatory, in order to facilitate the process of analysis and treatment of requests, both by the Bank of Portugal, and subsequently by the recipient Institutions; b) The document issued by a judicial or police entity (e.g., official report) attesting to the occurrence on which the request is based must be attached; c) The Bank of Portugal will carry out an initial screening consisting of verifying the regularity of the request (i.e.: whether the reason is eligible and there is a document issued by a judicial or police entity) and the completion of the form, after which it will disseminate it to the Institutions, exclusively via electronic means; d) Any requests for clarification or additional elements (e.g.: request for official justificatory documents) should be made by the recipient Institutions directly to the applicant; e) In the event of recovery, replacement, or other alteration regarding the status or validity of documents that have been the subject of a previous dissemination request, the applicant assumes responsibility for making a new request to the Bank of Portugal, using the same type of form and marking the fields specifically intended for this purpose, which will serve to inform the recipient Institutions; f) The Bank of Portugal will make this dissemination service available without any cost to applicants, and therefore, it is not permissible for the recipient Institutions to debit any expense (even under the title of administrative fees or other analogous charges) to the Bank of Portugal.

4. Delimitation of Responsibility of the Bank of Portugal
   The Bank of Portugal acts in this process as mere collaboration, facilitating the communication process between individuals and the recipient Institutions, with the latter having, in the final instance, the responsibility for verifying the regularity of the information communicated by the applicant and the consequent final decision on the procedure to adopt, and under no circumstances can any responsibilities be attributed to the Bank of Portugal on the part of the applicant or the recipient Institutions of the dissemination.

5. Final Provisions
   Requests for clarification regarding the content of this Circular Letter should be sent to the address referred to in point 3.
   Circular Letter No. 03/2015/DET, of 08-04-2015, is revoked.