Central Bank of Tunisia Circular No. 2019-05 on Special Accounts for Legislative Electoral Campaigns

Tunis, August 7, 2019 Circular To Banks and the National Post Office No. 2019-05 Subject: Special accounts for the electoral campaign for candidate lists in legislative elections.

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The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, Having reviewed Organic Law No. 23 of 2012 dated December 20, 2012, related to the Independent High Authority for Elections, and all subsequent texts that amended and supplemented it, And Organic Law No. 16 of 2014 dated May 26, 2014, related to Elections and Referendums, as amended and supplemented by Organic Law No. 05 of 2017 dated February 17, 2017, And Law No. 35 of 2016 dated April 25, 2016, related to establishing the basic statute of the Central Bank of Tunisia, And Law No. 48 of 2016 dated July 11, 2016, related to Banks and Financial Institutions, And Decision of the Independent High Authority for Elections No. 10 of 2019 dated August 04, 2019, related to establishing the rules, procedures, and methods for financing the electoral campaign, as amended and supplemented by Decision No. 15 of 2017 dated October 12, 2017, And Circular of the Central Bank of Tunisia to Banks No. 2014-07 dated September 11, 2014, related to opening special bank accounts for the electoral campaign for candidate lists in legislative elections, as supplemented and amended by subsequent texts, And Opinion of the Compliance Monitoring Committee No. 2019-03 dated August 07, 2019, stipulated in Article 29 of Law No. 35 of 2016 related to establishing the basic statute of the Central Bank of Tunisia, Has decided the following: Article 1: Banks and the National Post Office must open a single special account for the electoral campaign bearing the name of the candidate list for legislative elections. This account shall be opened by the head of the candidate list or any other person by virtue of an explicit power of attorney for this purpose from the latter, certified by signature, at a bank branch or post office located in the electoral district where the concerned list is running. The financial agent of the candidate list shall manage, operate, and close the single special account for the electoral campaign in accordance with the regulations in force. Banks and the National Post Office are prohibited from opening more than one special account for the concerned electoral campaign for each candidate list. Article 2: Banks and the National Post Office must, before opening the special account for the electoral campaign, verify with the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system that no special account for the concerned electoral campaign exists under the name of the candidate list. Article 3: The special account for the electoral campaign shall be opened in accordance with the regulations in force and based on the following documents:

• Original or certified copy of the sub-authority's decision to accept the list's candidacy.
• Copy of the official document proving the identity of the head of the candidate list.
• Original or certified copy of the decision of the head of the candidate list regarding the appointment of the list's financial agent.
• Copy of the official document proving the identity of the candidate list's financial agent.
• Original or certified copy of the power of attorney document for opening the special account for the electoral campaign on behalf of the head of the candidate list (in case the account is opened by an agent).
• Copy of the official document proving the identity of the agent assigned to open the special account for the electoral campaign on behalf of the head of the candidate list (in case the account is opened by an agent).
• A certificate of no prohibition from holding and using check forms in the name of the financial agent, issued by the Central Bank of Tunisia within seven days prior to opening the account. Article 4: The special account for the electoral campaign shall be funded exclusively by the following resources:

1. Transfers in Tunisian Dinars originating from:

• Internal accounts of the members of the candidate list holding the account or from the internal accounts of the party to which the candidate list belongs, as self-financing.
• Internal accounts of Tunisian natural persons residing according to tax legislation, as private financing for the candidate list's electoral campaign.
• The state budget for the candidate list as a public grant related to the reimbursement of electoral expenses.

2. Financial amounts deposited by the financial agent as self-financing or private financing in cash or by checks. In this case, the full identity of the financial agent (name, surname, national identity card number, and issue date) must be clearly stated on the back of the deposit slip, along with the agent's signature. Transfers from legal entities of all types and from foreign natural persons, even if they are residents in Tunisia or their income source is Tunisian according to tax legislation, are prohibited. The bank branch or post office where the special account for the electoral campaign is opened must provide the financial agent of the candidate list holding the account with a sufficient number of checkbooks within a maximum of three working days from the date of submitting a written request for this purpose, and a single withdrawal card within the available balance in the account. Article 5: Banks and the National Post Office must open a single special account for the electoral campaign in convertible Dinars for candidate lists in legislative elections in electoral districts abroad. The special account for the electoral campaign in convertible Dinars shall be funded exclusively by the following resources:
3. Transfers originating from:

• Foreign accounts opened in the name of the members of the candidate list holding the account in foreign currency or convertible Dinars with banks established in Tunisia, or from their accounts opened abroad, or from the internal accounts of the party to which the candidate list belongs, as self-financing.
• Foreign accounts opened in the name of non-resident Tunisian natural persons according to exchange regulations in foreign currency or convertible Dinars with banks established in Tunisia, or from their accounts abroad, as private financing for the candidate list's electoral campaign. Transfers from legal entities of all types and from foreign natural persons, even if they are non-residents according to exchange regulations or their income is in foreign currency or convertible Dinars, as well as resident Tunisian natural persons according to exchange regulations, are prohibited.
• The state budget for the candidate list as a public grant related to the reimbursement of electoral expenses.

2. The equivalent in Dinars of amounts in foreign currency deposited by the financial agent as self-financing or private financing in cash or by checks. In this case, the full identity of the financial agent (name, surname, national identity card number, and issue date) must be clearly stated on the back of the deposit slip, along with the agent's signature. It should be noted that depositing the Dinar equivalent of amounts imported in foreign currency in the form of foreign banknotes requires presenting the original declaration document for those foreign banknotes to customs authorities, while ensuring a copy of the declaration document is kept in the account file. It should also be noted that the deposited amount and account number must be stated on the original declaration document. The bank branch or post office where the special account for the electoral campaign in convertible Dinars is opened, if requested by the financial agent of the candidate list holding the account, must provide the latter with a single international bank card for withdrawals without a ceiling and within the available balance in the account, noting that it is prohibited to issue check forms to holders of this type of account. Except for the provisions of this article, special accounts for the electoral campaign in convertible Dinars remain subject to the remaining provisions of this circular. Article 6: It is prohibited to grant any overdraft facility in the special account for the electoral campaign or to grant any type of advance to the account-holding list. Article 7: Banks and the National Post Office must declare to the Central Bank of Tunisia without delay every opening of a special account for the electoral campaign as stipulated in Article 1, through the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system. Article 8: Banks and the National Post Office must provide the Central Bank of Tunisia, in a first stage, with a provisional statement of the special accounts for the legislative electoral campaign from their opening date until the end of the electoral campaign, within a maximum of 15 days from the end of the electoral campaign. In a second stage, they must provide the final statements of these accounts from their opening date until their closing date, within a maximum of 15 days from the closing date. The aforementioned statements must be provided to the Central Bank of Tunisia on paper, signed and stamped by a duly authorized representative of the bank or the National Post Office, and through the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system in an Excel sheet format. Furthermore, upon closing the account, banks and the National Post Office must retrieve the withdrawal card and unused check forms from the financial agent of the candidate list holding the account, while taking the necessary measures to complete ongoing operations on the said account. Article 9: Banks and the National Post Office must appoint a correspondent to the Central Bank of Tunisia from among their staff, at least at the director level, who shall be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the obligations contained in this circular, especially resolving difficulties that candidate lists may encounter in opening and managing special accounts for the electoral campaign and working to resolve them promptly, as well as collecting required data related to electoral accounts from bank branches and post offices and transmitting them to the Central Bank of Tunisia within the deadlines. A deputy correspondent meeting the same conditions must also be appointed. Banks and the National Post Office must provide the Central Bank of Tunisia without delay with the full identity, phone number, and email address of the correspondent and their deputy by any means that leaves a written record. Article 10: Banks and the National Post Office must retain the files of special electoral accounts and all documents related to their opening, management, and closing, as well as documents and supporting evidence related to operations and transactions carried out through them, for a period of ten years from their closing date. Article 11: Provisions that contradict or duplicate this circular, which comes into effect from the date of its notification, are hereby repealed. The Governor, Marouane Abassi