Circular No. 3.501

CIRCULAR No. 003501 ------------------ Provides for the functioning of the ombudsman organizational component of consortium administrators. The Collegiate Board of the Central Bank of Brazil, in a session held on 15 July 2010, based on arts. 6 and 7 of Law No. 11.795, of 8 October 2008, D E C I D E D : Art. 1 Consortium administrators must establish and maintain an ombudsman organizational component, with the attribution of acting as a communication channel between them and the consortium members, including in the mediation of conflicts. § 1 The structure of the organizational component must be compatible with the size of the administrator, the quantity and type of groups administered and the number of consortium members. § 2 Consortium administrators must: I - widely disseminate the existence of the ombudsman, its purpose and manner of use; II - guarantee free access for consortium members to the ombudsman's service, through agile and effective channels; and III - provide free telephone access, whose number must be: a) disclosed and kept updated in a location and format visible to the public in the premises of its offices and in the premises of its representatives, as well as on their respective websites on the internet and in the other communication channels used to disseminate the administrator's products and services; b) recorded in statements, receipts, including electronic ones, in contracts formalized with consortium members, in advertising and publicity materials and in the other documents intended for consortium members; and c) recorded and kept permanently updated in an information system, in the manner established by the Central Bank of Brazil. § 3 The dissemination referred to in § 2, item I, must be provided for also through the communication channels used to disseminate the administrator's products and services. § 4 The organizational component must be segregated from the unit executing the internal audit activity referred to in art. 2, §§ 2 and 3, of Circular No. 3.078, of 10 January 2002. § 5 Consortium administrators that are part of a financial conglomerate may use the single ombudsman organizational component, established in the manner of Resolution No. 3.849, of 25 March 2010, which will act on behalf of the members of the group. § 6 Consortium administrators that are not part of a financial conglomerate may enter into an agreement with the class association to which they are affiliated or with a related institution, as defined in art. 1, § 1, items I and III, of Resolution No. 2.107, of 31 August 1994, for sharing and use of an ombudsman constituted in the aforementioned entities. § 7 The decision to use a shared ombudsman under the terms of §§ 5 and 6 of this article must be ratified at the first general meeting or the first board meeting, after the adoption of the option, without prejudice to compliance with the commitments referred to in art. 3, item III, of this circular. § 8 An agreement may only be entered into with a
class association that has a code of ethics and/or self-regulation effectively implemented, to which the administrator has adhered. Art. 2 The attributions of the ombudsman are: I - to receive, register, instruct, analyze and give formal and adequate treatment to complaints from consortium members that were not resolved by the usual service provided by its branches and any other service points; II - to provide the necessary clarifications and inform the complainants about the progress of their demands and the measures adopted; III - to inform the complainants of the expected deadline for a final response, which cannot exceed fifteen days, counted from the date of filing of the occurrence; IV - to forward a conclusive response to the complainants, regarding the demand, by the deadline informed in item III; V - to propose to the board of directors, when existing, or to the administrators of the consortium administrator, corrective measures or improvements to procedures and routines, as a result of the analysis of the complaints received; and VI - to prepare and forward to the internal audit and to the board of directors, when existing, and to the administrators of the consortium administrator, at the end of each semester, a quantitative and qualitative report on the ombudsman's performance, containing the suggestions referred to in item V. § 1 The service provided by the ombudsman to consortium members must be identified by a protocol number. § 2 The reports referred to in item VI of the caput must remain at the disposal of the Central Bank of Brazil for a minimum period of five years at the administrator's headquarters. Art. 3 The bylaws or articles of association of consortium administrators must expressly contain, among others, provisions on: I - the attributions of the ombudsman; II - the criteria for appointment and dismissal of the ombudsman and the duration of his term of office; and III - the express commitment of the consortium administrator to: a) create adequate conditions for the functioning of the ombudsman, as well as for its performance to be guided by transparency, independence, impartiality and exemption; and b) ensure the ombudsman's access to the information necessary to provide an adequate response to the complaints received, with full administrative support, and it may request information and documents for the exercise of its activities. § 1 The provisions of the caput of this article, according to the legal nature of the company, must be included in the administrator's bylaws or articles of association, in the first amendment that occurs after the creation of the ombudsman. § 2 The provisions of this article do not apply to administrators that do not establish their own ombudsman component as a result of the option provided for in art. 1, §§ 5 and 6, of this circular. Art. 4 The consortium administrators must designate before the Central Bank of Brazil the names of the ombudsman and of the administrator responsible for the
ombudsman office, in the case of limited liability companies, or of the director responsible for the ombudsman office, in the case of corporations. § 1 For the purposes of the designations referred to in the caput: I - the designated administrator or director may perform other functions; II - the ombudsman may not perform any other activity at the administrator, except that of administrator or director responsible for the ombudsman office; and III - in the event that the designation of administrator or director responsible for the ombudsman office and of ombudsman falls on the same person, that person may not perform any other activity at the administrator. § 2 In the event provided for in art. 1, § 5, of this circular, the ombudsman and the administrator or director responsible for the ombudsman office designated by the administrator before the Central Bank of Brazil shall be those relating to the single organizational ombudsman component of the conglomerate. § 3 In the events provided for in art. 1, § 6, of this circular, the administrators must: I - designate before the Central Bank of Brazil the name of their administrator or director responsible for the ombudsman office; and II - inform the name of the ombudsman of the class association or of the affiliated institution whose ombudsman office is shared by the consortium administrator. § 4 The data relating to the administrator or director responsible for the ombudsman office and to the ombudsman must be entered and kept updated in an information system, in the form established by the Central Bank of Brazil. Art. 5 The administrator or the director responsible for the ombudsman office must prepare a semiannual report, in the form defined by the Central Bank of Brazil, relating to the activities of the ombudsman office on the base dates of 30 June and 31 December, and whenever a relevant occurrence is identified. § 1 The semiannual report referred to in the caput of this article must be: I - appraised by the internal audit, when existing, and reviewed by an independent audit, which must express an opinion on the quality and adequacy of the structure, systems and procedures of the ombudsman office, as well as on compliance with the other requirements of this circular, including in the cases provided for in art. 1, §§ 5 and 6, of this circular; II - forwarded to the Central Bank of Brazil, in the case of consortium administrators subject to the obligation to implement internal audit activity, under the terms of Circular No. 3.078, of 2002, or that have opted to enter into an agreement with the class association to which they are affiliated under the terms of art. 1, § 6, of this circular; III - included in the single report of the financial conglomerate in the situation provided for in art. 1, § 5, of this circular. § 2 The report referring to a relevant occurrence referred to in the caput of this article must be forwarded to the Central Bank of Brazil by all administrators. § 3 The reports
referred to in the caput of this article must be filed at the headquarters of the respective administrator, at the disposal of the Central Bank of Brazil for a minimum period of five years, accompanied, in the case of the semiannual report, by the documents produced as a result of the provisions of item I of § 1 of this article. Art. 6 The consortium administrators not obliged, under the terms of this circular, to send the report of the administrator or of the director responsible for the ombudsman office to the Central Bank of Brazil must keep the reports not yet sent in the form required by Circular No. 3.359, of 23 August 2007, at the headquarters of the administrator, observing the provisions of art. 5, § 3, of this circular. Art. 7 The designation of the members of the ombudsman office is conditioned upon prior proof of aptitude in a certification examination organized by an entity of recognized technical capacity. § 1 The certification examination referred to in the caput must cover, at a minimum, topics related to ethics, consumer rights and defense, and conflict mediation, as well as having been held after 27 August 2007. § 2 The consortium administrators are responsible for the periodic updating of the knowledge of the members of the ombudsman office. § 3 The administrator or director responsible for the ombudsman office must comply with the formality provided for in the caput only in the event provided for in art. 4, § 1, item III, of this circular. § 4 In the events provided for in art. 1, § 6, of this circular, the respective agreements must contain a clause requiring certification examination of all members of the ombudsman offices of the class associations and of the affiliated institutions, under the terms of this circular. Art. 8 The ombudsman office must maintain an updated control system of the complaints received, so that the history of assistance, the identification of the consortium members, with all documentation and measures adopted, can be evidenced. Sole paragraph. The information and documentation referred to in the caput must remain at the disposal of the Central Bank of Brazil at the headquarters of the administrator, for a minimum period of five years, counted from the date of filing of the occurrence. Art. 9 The provisions of this circular do not apply to associations and non-profit civil entities that administer consortium groups, as well as to administrators that do not have active groups and that have formalized a cancellation request with the Central Bank of Brazil. Art. 10 This circular enters into force on the date of its publication. Art. 11 Circular No. 3.359, of 23 August 2007, is revoked. Brasília, 16 July 2010. Alexandre Antonio Tombini Director