2025-01-01 | JPRM-2025-008-G

Resolution No. JPRM-2025-008-G: Reforming Section 2 on the Hiring of External Auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador

The Monetary Policy and Regulation Board of Ecuador issued Resolution No. JPRM-2025-008-G to amend the governance codification regarding the hiring of external auditors for the Central Bank of Ecuador. The resolution restricts auditor tenure by limiting re-selection to two consecutive periods and establishes a detailed special procurement procedure involving the Audit Committee and specific evaluation matrices. It also introduces new conflict-of-interest provisions and mandates that the selected auditor be contracted by August 15 of the audit year.

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RESOLUTION No. JPRM-2025-008-G MONETARY POLICY AND REGULATION BOARD

CONSIDERING:

That, Article 226 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador prescribes that public servants and persons acting by virtue of state authority shall exercise only the competencies and powers attributed to them in the Constitution and the Law;

That, Article 227 ibidem states that Public Administration constitutes a service to the community governed by the principles of efficiency, quality, hierarchy, coordination, planning, among others;

That, the first paragraph of Article 303 of the Constitution of the Republic determines that the formulation of monetary, credit, exchange, and financial policies is the exclusive faculty of the Executive Function and will be implemented through the Central Bank of Ecuador;

That, Article 57.1 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code establishes that “The financial statements of the Central Bank of Ecuador shall be audited, at least once a year, in accordance with International Auditing Standards by independent external auditors, who must have recognized international experience. The Monetary Policy and Regulation Board shall appoint the external auditors upon proposal of the Audit Committee. The external auditor shall be appointed for the period determined by the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, which shall have a duration of no less than three (3) years. The Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, prior to a report from the Audit Committee, may remove the external auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador for just cause.”

That, the second paragraph of the fourth general provision of the Organic Law for the Strengthening of Protected Areas states: “The structure and functions of the Financial Policy and Regulation Board and the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, established in the Organic Monetary and Financial Code before June 26, 2025, shall remain in effect until the appointment of the members of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board by the National Assembly.”;

That, Article 47.1 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code creates the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board as part of the Executive Function, responsible for the formulation of monetary policy, the highest governing body of the Central Bank of Ecuador, and determines its composition;

That, Article 47.6 of the same Code, regarding the functions of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, among others, establishes: “(…) 26. Those others conferred by law. (…)”;

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That, Article 209.1 of the General Regulation to the Organic Law of the National Public Contracting System establishes the special regime procedure for the contracting of several processes by the Central Bank of Ecuador, including that pertaining to the hiring of external auditors, which is broken down in Article 209.2 ibidem;

That, Article 128 of the Organic Administrative Code establishes: "Normative act of an administrative character. It is any unilateral declaration made in the exercise of an administrative competence that produces general legal effects, which is not exhausted with its compliance and directly";

That, by Resolution No. JPRM-2025-007-G, of July 16, 2025, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board approved the Codification of Governance Resolutions of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador.

That, it is necessary to make certain adjustments to Section 2 "Norm for the Hiring of External Auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador", of Chapter II of Title II, of the Codification of Governance Resolutions of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador, based on what is provided in Article 2 of the Organic Law of the National Public Contracting System and Articles 209.1 and 209.2 of the General Regulation to the Organic Law of the National Public Contracting System, where the procedure to which the processes under the special regime will be subject is established;

That, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, in an ordinary session by mixed modality, on July 16, 2025, approved the reform to the Governance Codification of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2025-007-G, of July 16, 2025; and,

In exercise of its functions and in attention to Article 47.7 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board resolves:

REFORM SECTION 2 "NORM FOR THE HIRING OF EXTERNAL AUDITORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF ECUADOR", OF CHAPTER II OF TITLE II OF THE CODIFICATION OF GOVERNANCE OF THE MONETARY POLICY AND REGULATION BOARD AND THE CENTRAL BANK OF ECUADOR ISSUED BY RESOLUTION NO. JPRM-2025-007-G, OF JULY 16, 2025

Article 1.- Substitute, in the first paragraph of Article 164 of Section 2 "Norm for the Hiring of External Auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador", of Chapter II of Title II of the Codification of Governance of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2025-007-G, of July 16, 2025, the phrase “which may be renewed on one occasion” with the phrase “being able to be hired only for two consecutive periods, in the case of having been selected”.

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Article 2.- Include as letter a) of Article 165 of Section 2 "Norm for the Hiring of External Auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador", of Chapter II of Title II of the Codification of Governance of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2025-007-G, of July 16, 2025, the following text and renumber the letters following it.

“a) A legal person that has provided services other than external auditing to the Central Bank of Ecuador in the immediately preceding year cannot be an external auditor;”

Article 3.- Substitute Article 166 of Section 2 "Norm for the Hiring of External Auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador", of Chapter II of Title II of the Codification of Governance of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2025-007-G, of July 16, 2025, with the following text:

“Article 166.- Procurement Process for External Auditing. – The selection and contracting process for external auditing must be carried out considering the following:

a) Within the first quarter of the year to be audited, the Audit Committee, based on the recommendations of the Director of Banking Auditing of the Central Bank of Ecuador and with prior knowledge of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, will send to the Central Bank of Ecuador the objective and scope of the external auditing service, considering the provisions established in this norm;

b) The Central Bank of Ecuador will publish on its website and through direct invitations, the requirement for the external auditing service;

c) The Central Bank of Ecuador will attend to inquiries sent by the external auditing companies applying;

d) External auditors must send their technical and economic offers as indicated by the requirement of the Central Bank of Ecuador;

e) The Central Bank of Ecuador will make the received technical and economic offers known to the Audit Committee;

f) The Audit Committee may request clarifications or expansions from the auditing companies, attaching them to the original offer if necessary;

g) The Audit Committee will analyze the received technical and economic offers, using the Evaluation Criteria Matrix for the hiring of external auditing, which may consider, among other aspects, the type and time of experience of the partner, team leader, and members constituting the auditing work team; the participation in the work team of auditors with previous experience in central banking; the participation in the work team of senior auditing specialists. The aforementioned matrix will award a score of eighty percent (80%)

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to technical strength and affinity; and, twenty percent (20%) regarding the economic factor;

h) Through a motivated report, which must contain the Evaluation Criteria Matrix for the hiring of external auditing, the Audit Committee will send to the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board the list of participating and eligible independent external auditors, from which it will propose the best-ranked auditing firm;

i) The Monetary Policy and Regulation Board will appoint the external auditing company for a period of three (3) years. The outgoing external auditing company may be invited to participate in the special regime process determined in the regulations governing public contracting, provided that its participation does not exceed, including that in which it intends to participate in the event of being selected, more than two consecutive periods as External Auditor of the Central Bank of Ecuador;

j) The Central Bank of Ecuador will contract the selected external auditing company by August 15 of the year subject to the audit; and,

k) The contracting of the external auditing company for the Central Bank of Ecuador will be carried out under the contracting modality provided for in the Law.

Article 4.- Substitute the first paragraph of Article 167 of Section 2 "Norm for the Hiring of External Auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador", of Chapter II of Title II of the Codification of Governance of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2025-007-G, of July 16, 2025, with the following text:

“Article 167.- Call for Proposals. - The call for proposals for the selection of external auditing of the Central Bank of Ecuador must contain at least the following:”

Article 5.- Repeal the second general provision of Section 2 "Norm for the Hiring of External Auditors of the Central Bank of Ecuador", of Chapter II of Title II of the Codification of Governance of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board and the Central Bank of Ecuador issued by Resolution No. JPRM-2025-007-G, of July 16, 2025.

FINAL PROVISION.- This resolution will enter into force from its issuance, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Register.

The General Secretariat of the Central Bank of Ecuador is entrusted with its publication on the institutional website.

NOTIFY AND PUBLISH. - Given in the Metropolitan District of Quito D.M., on July 16, 2025.

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THE PRESIDENT Dr. TATIANA MARIBEL RODRÍGUEZ CERÓN

The preceding resolution was signed by Doctor Tatiana Maribel Rodríguez Cerón - President of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, in the Metropolitan District of Quito D.M., on July 16, 2025.- I CERTIFY.

ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY Attorney MARÍA ALEXANDRA GUERRERO DEL POZO