CENTRAL BANK OF MADAGASCAR

DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION CENTERS DIRECTORATE

Instruction No. 001-DDI/2021
setting the procedures for the approval of the tariff grid for Credit Information Bureaus (CIBs) --------------------------------------------------

The Governor of the Central Bank of Madagascar,

Pursuant to Law No. 2016-004 of July 29, 2016, supplemented by Law No. 2016-057 of February 2, 2017, establishing the statutes of the Central Bank of Madagascar;

Pursuant to Law No. 2017-045 of February 15, 2018, governing the activity and supervision of Credit Information Bureaus;

Pursuant to Decree No. 2019-2069 repealing the provisions of Decree No. 2014-1684 of October 29, 2014, appointing the Governor of the Central Bank of Madagascar and appointing the Governor of the Central Bank of Madagascar;

Pursuant to Instruction No. 001-DDI/2019 of October 2, 2019, amended and supplemented by Instruction No. 001-DDI/2020 of February 28, 2020, setting the procedures for implementing Law No. 2017-045 of February 15, 2018 governing the activity and supervision of Credit Information Bureaus,

DECIDES

Article 1. OBJECT
This Instruction aims to establish the procedures for the approval by the Central Bank of Madagascar (BFM) of the tariff grids for services provided by Credit Information Bureaus (CIBs).

Article 2. SCOPE
The provisions of this Instruction apply to active CIBs as well as Supervised Entities as defined in Article 3 of Law No. 2017-045 of February 15, 2018 governing the activity and supervision of Credit Information Bureaus.

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Article 3. TARIFFS SUBJECT TO APPROVAL
Pursuant to Articles 32 and 38 of Law No. 2017-045 of February 15, 2018, the tariff grid for the service of providing solvency reports is subject to BFM approval. Such reports must meet the requirements set forth in Article 44 of the aforementioned law regarding their characteristics and content, and are necessary for carrying out the following activities:

• granting of credit;
• rescheduling or restructuring of credit;
• monitoring or evaluation of client portfolios;
• any other related activity prescribed by BFM.

Services agreed upon directly between a CIB and a Supervised Entity acting as a Data User are excluded from the application of this Article.

Article 4. CONSULTATION RECORDS
Information users are entitled to a detailed consultation record free of charge once per month to allow them to verify their billing. CIBs must take all necessary measures to implement a system enabling each user to request a solvency report consultation record in an usable format.

Article 5. APPROVAL PROCESS BY BFM
5.1. All services offered by a CIB must undergo the following steps:
i. Relevance of the proposed service to market needs or expectations,
ii. Service development,
iii. Data collection and loading,
iv. Conducting tests and any necessary adjustments,
v. User training,
vi. Approval of the tariff grid,
vii. Service launch or operationalization.

For mandatory services, in addition to prior approval of the tariff grid, validation of each process step by BFM is required.

The CIB must demonstrate the completion of these steps prior to any market launch of the service.

5.2. The written application for tariff grid approval and related documents must be submitted to BFM prior to any operationalization of a CIB service.

Prior to submitting the approval application for proposed mandatory services and their respective prices to BFM, the CIB is required to organize presentation sessions of the tariff grid for the Professional Associations of Supervised Entities.

Each session must be documented in a detailed minutes report duly signed by CIB representatives and the concerned professional associations, with a copy attached to the approval application submitted to BFM.

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5.3. BFM has a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the application to notify its decision. To this end, BFM may request any supplementary information it deems useful. A request for supplementary information suspends the time limit set forth in this paragraph.

This time limit resumes running from the date of receipt of the requested information.

5.4. BFM reserves the right to consult the various Professional Associations of Supervised Entities and other Data Providers to gather their opinions, and the right to request supplementary information from other stakeholders in the credit information sharing system.

5.5. In the event of non-approval of the tariff grid, the CIB must submit a new proposal to BFM within fifteen (15) days from the date of notification of the rejection decision. The time limit provided in paragraph 5.3 applies to BFM for processing the new application.

5.6. The approved tariff grid enters into force thirty (30) days after BFM's decision.

Upon notification of said decision, the CIB must communicate the approved tariff grid to the Professional Associations of Supervised Entities and other data providers, specifying its effective date.

CIBs must permanently display their approved tariff grid in their premises as well as on their websites. They are required to publish this information in at least one widely circulated newspaper upon each modification of the tariffs.

Article 6. PRICING PRINCIPLES
CIBs shall establish their tariffs in Ariary based on the following principles:

• reduction of tariffs proportionally to the increase in consultations on an annual basis,
• consideration of the service category offered in the pricing, as well as data transfer methods, notably web consultation services, machine-to-machine (web service, Application Programming Interface, ...), batch processing,
• a single pricing structure applicable to both legal and natural persons,
• establishment of special pricing for microfinance institutions,
• free of charge for "no hit" requests,
• application of specific pricing for the provision of information intended for client portfolio evaluation, which must comply with banking and financial regulatory provisions.

Article 7. MODIFICATION OF THE TARIFF GRID Any modification to the tariff grid must be submitted in writing and processed by BFM according to the procedures set forth in Article 5.

When BFM has issued two successive and duly reasoned decisions rejecting the approval of a tariff grid for the same CIB, the applicable tariffs shall be those of the previously approved grid reduced by 10%.

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Article 8. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
The provisions of Articles 9, 10, and 11 of Instruction No. 001-DDI/2019 of October 2, 2019, amended and supplemented by Instruction No. 001-DDI/2020 of February 28, 2020, setting the procedures for implementing Law No. 2017-045 of February 15, 2018 governing the activity and supervision of Credit Information Bureaus, are hereby repealed and remain repealed.

Article 9. TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
9.1. Any approval decision rendered by BFM prior to the entry into force of this Instruction is suspended.

9.2. As an exception, upon the entry into force of this Instruction, the first process applied by BFM for the approval of a tariff grid it receives shall derogate from the time limits indicated in paragraphs 5.1, 5.3, and 5.4 above. The newly approved tariff grid shall take effect as of April 1, 2021.

Article 10. ENTRY INTO FORCE
This Instruction enters into force on the date of its signature.

ANTANANARIVO, MARCH 5, 2021

THE GOVERNOR
HENRI E. RABARIJOHN