Circular No. 3532 — Institutes truncation as the standard procedure within the Check Clearinghouse (Compe), amends and consolidates the pertinent regulations

CIRCULAR No. 3.532

CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

Institutes truncation as the standard procedure within the scope of the Check Clearinghouse (Compe), amends and consolidates the pertinent regulations.

The Collegiate Board of the Central Bank of Brazil, in a session held on 20 April 2011, based on art. 11, item VI, of Law No. 4.595, of 31 December 1964, and taking into account the provisions of art. 19, item IV, of the aforementioned Law, and of Law No. 10.214, of 27 March 2001,

D E C I D E D :

Art. 1º Truncation is instituted as the standard procedure within the scope of the Check Clearinghouse (Compe).

§ 1º Truncation consists of the retention of the paper check by the financial institution that accepted it for deposit, with its presentation to the drawee financial institution being made by means of a digital image and other electronic records.

§ 2º Truncation must be carried out in accordance with the procedures, specifications and security requirements approved within the scope of the Consultative Group for Clearing Matters (Compe Group).

§ 3º The accepting financial institution must keep the paper check until its final settlement.

§ 4º Banco do Brasil S.A., executor of check clearing services in accordance with the legislation in force, must disclose to the participants of Compe the procedures, specifications and security requirements referred to in § 2.

Art. 2º A participant that, by the date defined in art. 4, has not implemented truncation may not participate in Compe until it is able to operate under the new system.

Art. 3º The attached regulation is approved, which governs, in a consolidated manner, the operation of Compe.

Sole paragraph. The operating procedures of Compe are detailed in an operational manual prepared by the executor and approved by the Central Bank of Brazil.

Art. 4º This circular enters into force on the date of its publication, producing effects as of 20 May 2011, when the following are revoked:

I - Circulars nos. 772, of 8 April 1983, 1.584, of 22 February 1990, 1.994, of 25 July 1991, 2.193, of 26 June 1992, 2.315, of 26 May 1993, 2.398, of 29 December 1993, 2.444, of 6 July 1994, 2.557, of 20 April 1995, 2.558, of 20 April 1995, 2.644, of 29 November 1995, 2.708, of 7 August 1996, 3.050, of 2 August

CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

2001, 3.103, of 28 March 2002, 3.118, of 18 April 2002, 3.141, of 1 August 2002, 3.149, of 11 September 2002, 3.189, of 23 April 2003, 3.440, of 2 March 2009 and 3.479, of 30 December 2009, and Circular Letters nos. 1.298, of 30 October 1985, 2.699, of 22 November 1996, 2.836, of 10 February 1999, 2.863, of 9 July 1999, 2.883, of 1 December 1999, 2.966, of 5 June 2001, 3.114, of 31 December 2003, and 3.411, of 26 August 2009; and

II - arts. 3 and 4 of Circular No. 2.313, of 26 May 1993, and arts. 1, 2 and 3 of Circular No. 2.655, of 17 January 1996.

Brasília, 25 April 2011.

Aldo Mendes
Director

This text does not replace the one published in the DOU and in Sisbacen.

CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

Regulation of the Check Clearinghouse (Compe), attached to Circular No. 3.532, of 15 April 2011

SECTION I

SCOPE OF APPLICATION

Art. 1º This regulation governs the operation of the Check Clearinghouse (Compe), and the executor and the participants are subject to its provisions.

SECTION II

THE SYSTEM

Art. 2º Compe is the system responsible for the interbank clearing of checks with a value lower than the Reference Value for Bilateral Check Settlement (VLB-Cheque) defined by the regulations in force.

§ 1º The clearing process comprises the capture, transmission, reception, processing and acceptance of the image and information of checks, as well as the determination, in each of the daily sessions, of the related bilateral and multilateral results.

§ 2º The financial result of Compe is also affected by settlements of differences related to cleared checks and by payments of fees and representation services within the scope of the system.

Art. 3º Compe is operated by Banco do Brasil S.A., executor of check clearing services in accordance with the legislation in force.

SECTION III

DEFINITIONS

Art. 4º For the purposes of this regulation, the following are termed:

I - acceptance: process of validation, by the recipient (drawee financial institution), of a check to be cleared, with regard to the quality of its image and the other requirements that, if not met, may justify its return;

II - capture: process of obtaining, by the sender (accepting financial institution), by computerized means, the image and information of the check, for transmission to Compe;

III - branch: drawee branch or, in the case of credit cooperatives, cooperative service point;

IV - recipient: participant against whom the check is drawn (drawee financial institution) and to whom the related information and image are sent;

V - return: process by means of which the drawee financial institution (recipient) informs Compe of the non-acceptance of the check and the corresponding reason; VI - executor: Banco do Brasil S.A.; VII - check information: electronic records containing the printed data and the amount and date written on the check; VIII - master: attorney of the participant with powers to decide on behalf of the represented party in matters relating to check clearing with Compe; IX - participant: any of the institutions referred to in art. 5 of this regulation; X - reception: process of receiving, by the recipient (drawee financial institution), the image and information of the check; XI - sender: participant that accepts the check for deposit (accepting financial institution) and that forwards the corresponding information and image to Compe; XII - representative: third party contracted by the participant to perform, in its name, the procedures for transmission and reception of images and information of checks with Compe; XIII - transmission: process of sending the image and information of the check to Compe; XIV - processing: process of analysis, by the executing party and by the participants, of the image and information of the check; XV - exchange: procedure through which the sending participant informs Compe of the checks it has accepted, drawn against other participants.

SECTION IV

ON PARTICIPATION

Art. 5 The institutions holding a Reserve Account or Settlement Account, in which deposit accounts that can be operated by check are maintained, are obliged to participate in Compe.

Sole paragraph. The participant is identified by a code number assigned by the Central Bank of Brazil.

Art. 6 The start of operations in Compe depends on prior certification by the executing party.

§ 1 Certification must be based on tests, in order to guarantee the reliability, trustworthiness, security and integrity of its transmission, reception and return processes and of the information under its responsibility, observing the following:

Circular No. 3.532, of 25 April 2011.

I - the tests must be documented and sent to the Central Bank of Brazil for the purposes of surveillance of the Brazilian Payment System, and may be destroyed after inspection at Compe; and

II - before starting its activities in Compe, the executing party must send to the Central Bank of Brazil a declaration, signed by its statutory director responsible for Compe, that the participant has been duly certified.

§ 2 It is incumbent upon the executing party to inform the other participants of the date on which the new participant will start its operations.

Art. 7 The Central Bank of Brazil, at its sole discretion, may suspend or exclude from Compe the participant that operates in disagreement with the provisions of this regulation or its operational manual, respecting the right to adversarial proceedings and full defense.

Sole paragraph. Readmission to Compe depends on authorization from the Central Bank of Brazil.

SECTION V

ON REPRESENTATION

Art. 8 Each participant must designate its master with Compe, and the executing party may refuse the proposed name or request, at any time, the replacement of the designated person.

Art. 9 The participant may designate as representative another participant or association of financial institutions, regardless of associative link.

Sole paragraph. Operation through a representative does not exempt the represented participant from its obligations before Compe.

SECTION VI

ON CLEARABLE ITEMS

Art. 10 Checks must be sent to Compe by means of electronic files containing the corresponding images and information, captured by the sending participant in the form of the exchange routines and standards set forth in the operational manual of Compe.

§ 1 The legal and regulatory provisions related to the following must be observed:

I - the safekeeping of documents and the rights of their issuers and corresponding beneficiaries, including with regard to the supply of copies and related information; and

II - the check standard and its completion.

§ 2 The transmission of the image and information of the check to Compe replaces the signature of the sending participant for all legal purposes and makes it responsible, before the recipient, for the regularity of the series of endorsements placed on the transmitted checks.

§ 3 The image and information of the check may only be transmitted or retransmitted by another participant, other than the one indicated in the special crossing, when the check contains an endorsement-mandate.

Art. 11 Check forms must be produced with the quality required by the image digitization process.

Sole paragraph. Any changes related to the quality of check forms must be agreed within the scope of the Compe Group and disclosed by the executing party.

Art. 12 The settlements and payments referred to in art. 2, § 2, must be carried out in the form of the procedures established in the operational manual of Compe.

Art. 13 Any losses arising from differences identified in Compe must be subject to reimbursement by agreement between the parties, observing the remuneration limits in force in the market.

SECTION VII

ON DAILY SESSIONS

Art. 14 Two sessions are held on each business day:

I - daytime session, for exchange of checks of value equal to or less than the limit value of R$299.99 (two hundred and ninety-nine reais and ninety-nine centavos); and

II - nighttime session, for exchange of checks of value greater than the limit value referred to in item I.

§ 1 In each of the sessions referred to in items I and II, an exchange session and a return session are held, according to the schedules and criteria established in the operational manual of Compe.

§ 2 The schedules of the daily sessions of Compe must be established in such a way as to guarantee final settlement at the time established in art. 30.

§ 3 Without prejudice to the provisions of § 2, the executing party may change the schedules of the daily sessions, after consulting the Department of Banking Operations and Payment System of the Central Bank of Brazil.

§ 4 The start of a new daily session depends on the closure of the previous one.

Art. 15 In the event of inoperability of Compe, checks not exchanged during that event must be sent to the system on the day on which its normal operation is restored.

Circular No. 3.532, of 25 April 2011.

§ 1 The occurrence of inoperability must be communicated to the Department of Banking Operations and Payment System of the Central Bank of Brazil and to the participants at the moment it is detected by the executing party.

§ 2 The blocking period for amounts deposited by check, referred to in art. 43, is extended until the business day following the restoration of the system.

Art. 16 It is incumbent upon the executing party to guarantee the reliability, trustworthiness, security and integrity of its processes and of the information transacted in Compe.

SECTION VIII

ON EXCHANGE SESSIONS

Art. 17. The check exchange session among participants is processed by transmitting and receiving electronic files containing the pertinent images and information.

Art. 18. In the exchange process, it is the responsibility:

I - of the sender:

a) to capture reliable images and information of the checks accepted by it, in accordance with the standards set forth in the Compe operational manual;

b) to transmit to the executing party a file containing the images and information of the checks referred to in subparagraph "a", in accordance with the layout set forth in the Compe operational manual;

II - of the recipient: to receive, process and accept the images and information referring to checks drawn against it, including with regard to irregularities and frauds;

III - of the executing party:

a) to process the files forwarded by the senders, containing the checks accepted by them on deposit; and

b) to generate and transmit, to each recipient, the respective return file, containing the checks drawn against it.

SECTION IX

ON RETURN SESSIONS

Art. 19. The return session is mandatorily held on the business day following the exchange day.

Art. 20. In the return process, it is the responsibility:

I - of the sender:

BANCO CENTRAL DO BRASIL

a) to process the return file transmitted by the executing party, containing checks accepted by it and that were returned by the recipients; and b) to stamp the return on each physical check, indicating the reason informed by the recipient;

II - of the recipient:

a) to transmit to the executing party a file containing information on checks being returned, with indication of the corresponding reasons; and b) to include the check issuer in the Registry of Issuers of Bounced Checks, when applicable;

III - of the executing party:

a) to process the files containing information on checks being returned forwarded by the participants; and b) to generate and transmit, to the participants, the respective return files.

Art. 21. A return irregularly made by the recipient participant may be challenged by the sender participant:

I - until the subsequent return session, which may occur on the same day;

II - within sixty days, when any type of fraud related to the endorsement of the check is demonstrably detected;

III - at any time, when the check is returned outside the established periods.

§ 1º The financial settlements resulting from the challenges must be made in the very session in which the challenge occurred.

§ 2º Except for the financial settlements resulting from the challenges provided for in the caput, any divergences must be eliminated after the closing of the clearing, by means of an understanding between the participants involved.

SECTION X

ON THE PRIOR DEPOSIT FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE DAILY COMPE SESSIONS

Art. 22. Participation in the daily Compe sessions is conditioned, without prejudice to the other regulatory provisions, upon the prior constitution of a deposit at the Banco Central do Brasil.

§ 1º The deposit is constituted in the linked account referred to in art. 29, by means of an entry commanded by the participant through the Reserve Transfer System

BANCO CENTRAL DO BRASIL

(STR), using a specific message defined in the Message and File Catalog of the Network of the National Financial System (RSFN).

§ 2º The required prior deposit must be constituted by 9:30 a.m. of each business day.

Art. 23. The deposited amount is used, in part or in full, for the financial settlement of interbank obligations arising exclusively from the nightly clearing session of the date of constitution of the deposit.

Sole paragraph. The deposit referred to in this section is not entitled to remuneration and is not considered for the purposes of complying with any other requirement of the Banco Central do Brasil.

Art. 24. The participant that does not constitute, by the established time, the required deposit is subject, at the sole discretion of the Banco Central do Brasil and without prejudice to the other measures it deems appropriate, to being excluded from the day's Compe sessions.

Sole paragraph. Any exclusion of a participant from the Compe sessions of a given date is informed to the participants by means of a specific message defined in the Message and File Catalog of the RSFN, by 10 a.m. of that same day.

Art. 25. The amount to be deposited is determined based on the checks drawn against the institution that pass through the Compe exchange sessions, considering only checks with a unit value equal to or greater than R$5,000.00 (five thousand reais).

Sole paragraph. For the purposes of this article, the total amount of checks drawn against the institution with a value equal to or greater than R$5,000.00 (five thousand reais) that pass through the return sessions on the same day must be deducted from the amount determined for each day, for the following reasons, defined in the Compe operational manual:

I - 20 - check leaf canceled at the request of the account holder;

II - 24 - judicial block or determination of the Banco Central do Brasil;

III - 25 - cancellation of checkbook by the drawee participant; and

IV - 30 - theft or robbery of bags.

Art. 26. The calculation basis of the deposit corresponds to the arithmetic mean of the daily amount of the sum of the checks referred to in art. 25, that pass through Compe in the calculation period.

§ 1º The calculation period comprises the business days of two consecutive weeks, beginning on the Wednesday of the first week and ending on the Tuesday of the second subsequent week.

§ 2º The two-week period is rolling, with the first week of the previous period being abandoned each week.

Art. 27. The enforceability of the deposit prevails from the first business day of the week following that of the close of the calculation period, and shall correspond to the result of the calculation below:

EDp = BDCp - min((Cp x MDRC), BDCp), where:
ED = deposit enforceability; p = calculation period as per § 1 of art. 26; BDCp = calculation base of the check corresponding to period p; MDRC = the greater of the simple arithmetic averages of the total daily value of checks drawn against the participant, of value equal to or greater than R$5.000,00 (five thousand reais), that have passed through Compe, evaluated in the periods from 1 February 2001 to 31 January 2002 and from 1 March 2001 to 28 February 2002; Cp = exemption percentage for checks, corresponding to 20%.

Sole paragraph. The MDRC values are determined by the Department of Banking Operations and Payment System of the Central Bank of Brazil.

Art. 28. For the purpose of calculating the enforceability referred to in art. 27, the participant must inform the Central Bank of Brazil, by the first business day following the close of the calculation period, through a specific message defined in the RSFN Message and File Catalog, of the values determined in the form of art. 25.

§ 1 In the event of absence of information relating to a calculation period until the business day prior to the start of the enforcement period, the information referring to the last period informed is attributed to the calculation base.

§ 2 The participant that informs or changes the data after the deadline set in the caput incurs the payment of a fine, in the form provided for in the regulation in force.

SECTION XI

ON FINANCIAL SETTLEMENT

Art. 29. The financial settlement of the results of Compe is carried out using funds deposited in a linked account at the Central Bank of Brazil, whose deposits shall be made by the participant through the STR.

Art. 30. The financial settlement of the obligations referred to in art. 29, relating to the daily sessions of Compe, occurs at the following times:

I - night session of the previous business day: 9h; and

II - day session of the same day: 17h15.

Art. 31. The results determined in Compe may be adjusted before their effective settlement at the Central Bank of Brazil, in accordance with the Compe operational manual.

CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

Circular No. 3.532, of 25 April 2011.

§ 1 The adjustments referred to in the caput aim to correct, in the same session, improper entries of amounts from R$5.000,00 (five thousand reais).

§ 2 The completion of the adjustment must always have the formal manifestation, with the executor, of the two institutions involved.

Art. 32. The settlement referred to in art. 29 observes the following procedures:

I - the executor must inform the Central Bank of Brazil and each participant of Compe, by the times indicated below, of the respective bilateral and multilateral results:

a) night session of the previous business day: 7h; and

b) day session of the same day: 16h40;

II - the participants must provide the linked account with sufficient funds for the financial settlement of their interbank obligations arising from the respective session, in accordance with the following times:

a) night session of the previous business day: 8h30; and

b) day session of the same day: 17h;

III - if the amount available in the linked account of any participant, at the times indicated in item II, is insufficient for the corresponding settlement, the Central Bank of Brazil shall exclude it from the settlement process and inform each of the other participants of this occurrence and the new multilateral net result determined;

IV - in the event provided for in item III, the participants not excluded must provide, whenever necessary, the linked account with sufficient funds for the financial settlement of their interbank obligations, up to ten minutes after the disclosure, by the Central Bank of Brazil, of the new multilateral result; and

V - the process established in items III and IV is repeated until the balance available in the linked account of all holders is sufficient for the financial settlement of their interbank obligations.

Art. 33. The Department of Banking Operations and Payment System may change the times provided for in this section, including with respect to specific dates.

Art. 34. The decree of intervention or extrajudicial liquidation of a participant implies its immediate exclusion from Compe, except as provided in art. 35.

§ 1 If, at the time of disclosure of the corresponding act, there is a multilateral result already approved but not yet settled under the terms of this section, the Central Bank of Brazil must exclude the participant from the settlement process, following the same procedure described in items III, IV and V of art. 32.

CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

§ 2 Any funds existing in the linked account shall be transferred to:
I - the Banking Reserves account or to the Settlement Account of the institution, in the case of intervention; or II - the bank current account indicated for this purpose by the liquidator, in the case of extrajudicial liquidation.

Art. 35. The excluded participant shall participate in the session following the moment of its exclusion only for the purpose of return, without any financial effect, of the checks sent and received in the session whose multilateral result was reprocessed in the form of art. 34.

§ 1 For the return referred to in the caput, reason 24 (judicial block or determination of the Central Bank of Brazil) must be used.

§ 2 The reason referred to in § 1 must also be used for the return, to clients, of checks previously accepted and that were not exchanged.

SECTION XII

ON CHECKS IN RETURN

Art. 36. Checks that are not returned until the business day following the exchange date are considered settled, except in the cases below:

I - participants may have one more business day of deadline for return, in the event of a local holiday, in the drawee city, on the exchange date or on the following business day; and

II - checks must be settled even when there is a discrepancy between the amount expressed in figures and in words, and any difference verified as a result of the processing of the check in question for the amount expressed in figures must be settled between the parties.

Art. 37. In the event of Compe being inoperative, checks whose return deadline expires on the day of the inoperability may be returned on the first business day following the day on which the situation that caused the inoperability is regularized, provided that the executing party timely notifies the participants of the inoperability.

Art. 38. The determining reason for the return must be mandatorily indicated by means of a stamp affixed to the back of the check.

Art. 39. The reasons for check return are detailed in the Compe operational manual.

Art. 40. Any losses arising from differences identified in Compe must be subject to reimbursement by agreement between the parties, observing the remuneration limits in force in the market.

Art. 41. The return of a check is subject to the payment of a service fee to the executing party, which reverts to the benefit of Compe, whose amount and responsibility are set forth in its operational manual.

Art. 42. The returned check must be available to the depositing customer at the branch where the deposit was made, on the business day following the end of the blocking period.

SECTION XIII

ON THE BLOCKING OF AMOUNTS DEPOSITED BY CHECK

Art. 43. The blocking period for the amount of the check may not exceed:

I - two business days, counted from the day following the deposit, in the case of checks with a value equal to or less than the threshold amount referred to in art. 14, for exchange in the specific sessions; or

II - one business day, counted from the day following the deposit, in the case of checks with a value greater than the threshold amount, for exchange in the specific sessions;

§ 1º The periods referred to in the caput shall be increased by one business day if, during the normal blocking period, a local holiday occurs in the city where the drawee branch is located.

§ 2º Up to sixty days after the implementation of check truncation, the blocking period for the amount of the deposited check:

I - is up to twenty business days: in a hard-to-reach city, as defined in the Compe operational manual, and drawn against a branch located in a city different from the one of receipt;

II - is up to four business days: in a non-integrated normal-access city, as defined in the Compe operational manual.

§ 3º The Compe executing party must daily disclose to the participants a registry containing the code of branches, as contained in the check's "magnetic band", and of the municipalities where a municipal holiday will occur, for the purpose of blocking deposits made with checks.

§ 4º The information contained in the check's "magnetic band", as defined in the Catálogo de Documentos do Banco Central do Brasil (CADOC), model 38058-0, determines the blocking period, and the recipient is responsible, at any time, for problems suffered by the sender as a consequence of irregularities in the preparation of the magnetic band.

§ 5º The amounts deposited by check become available to offset debts, in the respective checking accounts of the depositors, on the night of the last day of the blocking period, and may be withdrawn directly at the sender's teller on the business day following the end of that period.

§ 6º Deposits made by check that are subject to blocking for periods longer than those established in this article must be remunerated by the Selic Rate, for each day exceeding the permitted blocking period.

Circular nº 3.532, of 25 April 2011.

Art. 44. Deposits by check from another branch of the same participant observe the same maximum blocking and return periods provided for checks from another participant, and may be reduced according to each participant's criteria.

SECTION XIV

ON THE ADVISORY GROUP FOR CLEARING AFFAIRS

Art. 45. The Advisory Group for Clearing Affairs (Compe Group) is established by the Banco Central do Brasil to give opinions on matters related to Compe.

Art. 46. The Compe Group is responsible for:

I - expressing its opinion on matters related to Compe, when requested by the Banco Central do Brasil or by the executing party;

II - submitting, on its own initiative, to the Banco Central do Brasil or to the executing party, as appropriate to the nature of the matter, studies or suggestions aimed at the continuous improvement of Compe;

III - observing necessity and convenience, establishing sub-groups of its members, on a permanent or temporary basis, to collaborate in the study and assessment of specific matters; and

IV - preparing its internal rules.

Art. 47. The Compe Group is composed of the following members:

I - a representative of the Banco Central do Brasil, in the capacity of observer;

II - a representative of the executing party, with the duties of coordinator;

III - a representative of the Federação Nacional dos Bancos (Fenaban)/Federação Brasileira de Bancos (Febraban);

IV - a representative of the Associação Nacional de Bancos (Asbace);

V - a representative of the Associação Brasileira de Bancos (ABBC);

VI - a representative of the Associação Brasileira de Bancos Internacionais (ABBI); and

VII - seven representatives appointed by the entities Fenaban/Febraban, ABBC, ABBI and Asbace, jointly, through a process coordinated by the executing party, selected according to the total number of documents sent and received, via Compe, being:

a) one representative of institutions participating in Compe among those with small volume;

BANCO CENTRAL DO BRASIL

b) three representatives of institutions participating in Compe among those with medium volume; and

c) three representatives of institutions participating in Compe among those with large volume.

Sole paragraph. Participants are classified as small, medium or large volume, according to the percentage of representativeness of each participant in relation to the total number of documents sent and received, via Compe, in the previous year, by all participants, observing the following criterion:

I - small volume: up to 0.5%;

II - medium volume: above 0.5% and up to 5%; and

III - large volume: above 5%.

Art. 48. The executing party must disclose, in the month of February of each year, the list of Compe participants, containing, at a minimum, the name, the quantity of documents sent and received and the respective percentage of representativeness, ranked in descending order by said percentage.

SECTION XV

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 49. The executing party's expenses referring to the operational costs of check clearing will be reimbursed by the participants.

Sole paragraph. The definition of the apportionment system and the incidence of costs related to this reimbursement will be set forth in the operational manual of Compe.

Art. 50. Any irregularity capable of affecting the standing and position of participants must be reported by the executing party to the Central Bank of Brazil for examination and adoption of appropriate measures.

Art. 51. The executing party must provide, free of charge, to each participant, an electronic file containing an updated copy of the Registry of Issuers of Bounced Checks.

Art. 52. The procedures for capture, transmission, reception, processing and acceptance of checks with a value equal to or greater than the VLB-Cheque may use the operational structure of Compe and the procedures related to their interbank settlement are defined in specific regulations.

Art. 53. December 24, when a business day, and Ash Wednesday are considered normal days for the purposes of Compe's operation.

CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

Circular No. 3.532, of April 25, 2011.

Art. 54. The results determined in the daytime session of December 24 will be settled on the following business day and incorporated into the result of the nighttime session of that day.

Art. 55. The results determined in the daytime session of the last business day of the year will be settled on the following business day at the normal settlement time of the nighttime session.

Art. 56. The executing party must disclose the times, established by mutual agreement with the participants, for the holding of:

I - on December 24 and Ash Wednesday, the exchange and return sessions; and

II - on the last business day of the year, the specific exchange session for checks accepted on the previous business day, with a value equal to or less than the threshold value.

Sole paragraph. The documents exchanged in the session referred to in item II may be returned until the second following business day.