Circular No. 2398 — Discloses New Electronic Clearing Regulation

CIRCULAR NO. 002398

Discloses New Electronic Clearing Regulation.

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Brazil, in a session held on December 29, 1993, based on Article 11, item VI, of Law No. 4,595, of December 31, 1964,

D E C I D E D:

Art. 1º Approve the attached Regulation, which governs the electronic exchange of documents in the Check and Other Papers Clearing Service (SCCOP).

Art. 2º The Department of Banking Operations (DEBAN) may introduce, through a Circular Letter, changes to the Regulation hereby disclosed.

Art. 3º This Circular enters into force on the date of its publication.

Art. 4º Circular No. 1,826, of October 18, 1990, Circular Letter No. 2,281, of May 29, 1992, and item 8 of Circular Letter No. 2,414, of October 7, 1993, are hereby revoked.

Brasília, December 29, 1993

Francisco Eduardo de Almeida Pinto
Monetary Policy Director

REGULATION ATTACHED TO CIRCULAR NO. 2,398, OF DECEMBER 29, 1993, WHICH GOVERNS ELECTRONIC CLEARING.

CHAPTER I

General Provisions

Art. 1º Electronic Clearing (CEL System) aims to replace the flow of paper with the exchange of information via magnetic or electronic media in clearinghouses, covering all documents that transit through the Check and Other Papers Clearing Service.

Sole Paragraph. The financial result of Electronic Clearing, where implemented, is processed by the Service Operator, who passes on the corresponding debits/credits to each participating institution.

Art. 2º Financial institutions registered in the Check and Other Papers Clearing Service have mandatory participation in Electronic Clearing in the Clearing Systems where it is implemented, and must channel their entire volume of transactions through it, observing the provisions of the following Article 3.

Art. 3º The locations and dates for the implementation of the CEL System are established by the Central Bank of Brazil - Department of Banking Operations (DEBAN), after hearing the Advisory Group for Clearing Affairs; the System may be installed in stages.

Paragraph 1º Electronic Clearing of checks up to the limit value defined for the specific session is implemented in the Regional Integrated Clearing Systems (SIRC) of Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasília (DF), Curitiba (PR), Londrina (PR), Porto Alegre (RS), Recife (PE), Ribeirão Preto (SP), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Salvador (BA), and São Paulo (SP).

Paragraph 2º The Central Bank of Brazil reserves the right to apply, at its exclusive discretion, the sanctions provided for in Law No. 4,595, of December 31, 1964, to institutions that do not observe the dates established in accordance with this article or do not participate in the CEL, where implemented, with the total volume of documents defined to be treated electronically.

Art. 4º Electronic Clearing is carried out through the delivery, at a location previously defined between the Operator and the participants, of magnetic files containing the information of the documents to be cleared, or via teletransmission.

Sole Paragraph. Participants have access to the movement destined for them through the same channel they use for remittance.

Art. 5º The teletransmitted information or contained in magnetic files must comply with the norms and routines established by the Operator.

Art. 6º The sending bank is responsible for the exact reproduction of the data contained in the documents to be cleared, as well as for the consequences that may arise from any errors in this reproduction.

Sole Paragraph. The receiving bank, whenever prejudiced, may seek correction with the sender, through remuneration negotiable within the limits current in the market.

Art. 7º Until the dates are defined from which documents must be retained at the sending banks, in each Clearing System, batches must be forwarded to the receiving banks in the same order in which the logical files were constituted.

Art. 8º The participants and the Operator, in each Clearing System, must previously define the location and hours for:

I - delivery of the magnetic file and respective backup to the Operator, or teletransmission of the data corresponding to the documents to be cleared;

II - delivery of the documents referred to in Article 7 of this Chapter;

III - receipt of the magnetic file, prepared by the Operator, containing the information of the documents destined for each bank, and of the respective backup, or teletransmission to the receiving banks; and

IV - communication of the financial result by the Operator.

Sole Paragraph. The hours and locations defined in accordance with the "caput" of this article must be formally communicated to all participants in the System.

Art. 9º The issuing bank of the document is responsible for errors resulting from poor quality of the material used in its preparation or non-observance of specifications and instructions.

Art. 10 In the impossibility of total or partial processing of the file, due to the responsibility of the sending bank, or in the case of forwarding documents in conventional form, the receiving bank is permitted to return the papers possibly in its possession and not accept the respective debits and/or credits, if applicable.

Art. 11 The Service Operator is responsible:

I - for the faithful reproduction of the data teletransmitted or contained in the magnetic files forwarded by the sending banks;

II - for any damages caused to participants due to the failure to inform, in a timely manner, the financial result of the exchange for the sensitization of BANK RESERVES accounts maintained with the Central Bank of Brazil;

III - for providing the magnetic files or teletransmitting the data related to the movement destined for each participant, at the determined time; and

IV - for reimbursing the prejudiced participant for non-compliance with the provisions contained in this article, through remuneration negotiable within the limits current in the market.

Art. 12 It is incumbent upon the Operator to monitor and ensure faithful compliance with this regulation, obliging itself to immediately communicate to the Central Bank of Brazil/DEBAN any infraction deemed relevant.

CHAPTER II

Clearing of Checks up to the Limit Value

Art. 13 In the event of an error in the reproduction of the data contained in the documents to be cleared, it is clarified that:

I - for checks whose correct values are less than or equal to the limit value of the specific exchange:

a) if the cleared value is lower than the issued value, the drawee bank is only obliged to accept the complement if there is a balance in the issuer's checking account;

b) if any data on the check is captured with an error, causing a debit in an account different from the issuer's, the drawee bank is only obliged to accept the debit if there is a balance in the checking account of the true owner; and

c) if there is no balance in the issuer's account, in the cases provided for in items "a" and "b" above, the return of the check or the microfilm copy is permitted, provided it is within the statute of limitations for the check, for the cleared value;

II - for checks whose correct values are higher than the limit value of the specific exchange, the sending bank must request, within the same clearing cycle, the return of the check for the originally cleared value, and the receiving bank must proceed with its return until the next night session following the exchange.

Art. 14 From the dates when checks cease to be sent to their respective drawee banks, in each Clearing System, the sending bank will be the fiduciary depositary of the documents included in the logical file, being responsible:

I - for the integrity of the documents;

II - for the custody of the documents during the legal periods:

a) 60 (sixty) days, counted from the date of their settlement, for original documents; and

b) 20 (twenty) years, according to current legislation, for microfiche copies or for original documents not microfilmed;

III - for providing the documents, or copies, whenever requested by the receiving bank, within a period of up to 5 (five) business days counted from the date of the request, clarified that:

a) the failure to provide the document or copy within the established period allows the drawee to return the cleared value through a specific document, to be disclosed by the Operator, attaching a copy of the request;

b) at any time, [the sending bank] is liable for damages resulting from the omission in delivering the document or microfilm copy within the established period, unless the fault for the occurrence is attributed to the drawee bank;

c) the Operator must periodically disclose the service fee value regarding the provision of an original document or copy, to be paid by the drawee to the sending bank;

d) the collection of the service fee regarding the provision of an original document or copy must be effected monthly, through an interbank receipt, until the fifth business day of the subsequent month; and

e) in the case of a judicial petition or administrative process, the request must be attended to within the period determined by the requesting authority;

IV - for the implications arising from:

a) undue return, due to incorrectly forwarded information, including in cases of improper records in the Register of Issuers of Bounced Checks (CCF); and

b) incorrect transcription, in the document, of the return reason informed by the drawee.

Art. 15 The incorrect reproduction of the check data by the sending bank, which prevents the sensitization of the checking account, allows the drawee to return it for reason "37 - Inconsistent Record", with the sending bank being responsible for the service fee regarding the return, which cannot be transferred to the depositor.

Art. 16 In the case of a document subject to return, the drawee bank may pass the debit to the sender, within the regulatory period, through a specific document to be disclosed by the Operator, attaching a report containing the data of the logical record/detail, clarified that:

I - the drawee bank must inform the reason for the return, observed that the re-presentation of the document by the sender may be done via microfilm.

II - the sending bank must apply, starting from the information provided by the drawee bank, a specific return stamp, containing the expression "DOCUMENT RETURNED BY THE DRAWEE BANK FOR REASON nn".

Art. 17 The values included in the logical file relative to checks retained at the sending bank cannot be returned for reasons 22, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 41, 44, and 48.

Art. 18 A document already settled by clearing, if subsequently re-presented, may be returned, within a period of up to 60 (sixty) days, counted from the date of the last presentation, to the re-presenting bank, through a specific document to be disclosed by the Operator, with notice to the previous presenting bank.

Art. 19 The drawee bank is responsible:

I - for including the client in the Register of Issuers of Bounced Checks (CCF), based on the information provided by the sending bank; and

II - for correctly informing the reason for return and reproducing the other information of the original record.

CHAPTER III

Electronic Clearing of Collection Slips

Art. 20 In the event of an error in the reproduction of the data contained in the clearing sheets:

I - if the cleared value is lower than due, the receiving bank may demand the complement from the sender, through remuneration negotiable within the limits current in the market; and

II - if the cleared value is higher than due, the sending bank may proceed with the correction, clarified that, when the adjustment is not promoted in the same clearing cycle, prior communication must be sent to the receiving bank.

Art. 21 The sending bank is obliged to inform the value received from collection slips that do not present a numerical expression in the NOMINAL VALUE field.

Art. 22 The inconsistency of the informed data allows the receiving bank to return the cleared value for reason "63 - Inconsistent Record".

Art. 23 The sending bank is the fiduciary depositary of the original of the clearing sheet of the collection slip, and must keep it in its possession for a period of 60 (sixty) calendar days from its clearing.

Art. 24 The sending bank must attend to the request for delivery of the original or copy of the collection slip clearing sheet, made by the receiving bank, within the following periods:

I - until the second business day following the exchange, if the request was made within the same clearing cycle;

II - in other cases, until 5 (five) business days from the date of the request.

Sole Paragraph. The sending bank is responsible for the implications arising from the failure to forward the document, original or copy, within the established periods, in addition to the sanctions provided by law.