Notice No. 3/GBM/2021, of 19 October – Establishes the Regulatory Framework Applicable to the Activity of Investment Companies

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SUMMARY
NOTICE
The matter to be published in the «Official Gazette» must be submitted in a duly authenticated copy, one for each subject, which must include, in addition to the necessary indications for this purpose, the following endorsement, signed and authenticated: For publication in the «Official Gazette». NATIONAL PRESS OF MOZAMBIQUE, E.P. Bank of Mozambique:
Dispatch:
Revokes the authorization for the exercise of activity granted to Compras em Grupo de Moçambique, S.A., Orders the dissolution and liquidation of Compras em Grupo de Moçambique, S.A. and appoints the Deposit Guarantee Fund as liquidator. Notice No. 2/GBM/2021:
Approves the Regulation of the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem and revokes Notice No. 2/GBM/2019, of 18 January.
Notice No. 3/GBM/2021:
Establishes the regulatory framework applicable to the activity of investment companies.
National Press of Mozambique, E.P.:
Rectification:
Regarding Ministerial Diploma No. 99/2021, of 20 September.
Tuesday, 19 October 2021 I SERIES — Number 201 BANK OF MOZAMBIQUE Dispatch Under the terms of Article 37 of Law No. 1/92, of 3 January, the Organic Law of the Bank of Mozambique, it is the responsibility of the Bank of Mozambique to supervise credit institutions and financial companies.
1. Considering that:
a) pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 80 of Law No. 20/2020, of 31 December, the Credit Institutions and Financial Companies Law (LICSF), the own funds of credit institutions and financial companies may not fall below the amount of legally required share capital; b) within the framework of the on-site and off-site supervisory monitoring of the activity of Compras em Grupo de Moçambique - CGM, S.A., the Bank of Mozambique has found that the institution has been presenting a degrading economic-financial situation, which consists in the non-compliance with prudential indicators; c) as a result of accumulated losses over time, the own capital of Compras em Grupo de Moçambique - CGM, S.A. is below the amount of legally required share capital.
2. Taking into account that:
a) pursuant to points (e) and (k) of paragraph 1 of Article 23 of the LICSF, the fact that a credit institution or financial company violates the laws or regulations governing its activity or fails to observe the determinations of the supervisory entity of its activities, as well as the non-compliance with prudential requirements regarding own funds, rules on large exposures or liquidity by the institution, constitute grounds for the revocation of the authorization for the exercise of activity. In the exercise of the powers conferred upon me by paragraph 1 of Article 24 of the LICSF, combined with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 49 of Law No. 30/2007, of 18 December, the Law on the Administrative Liquidation of Credit Institutions and Financial Companies, I decide:
a) to revoke the authorization for the exercise of activity granted to Compras em Grupo de Moçambique, S.A.; b) to order the dissolution and liquidation of Compras em Grupo de Moçambique, S.A.; and c) to appoint the Deposit Guarantee Fund as liquidator. Maputo, 6 September 2021. – Governor, Rogério Lucas Zandamela. Notice No. 2 /GBM/2021 of 19 October Given the need to review Notice No. 2/GBM/2019, of 18 January, the Regulation of the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem, and to adapt it to internationally accepted best practices regarding its operation, the Bank of Mozambique, in the exercise of the competence conferred upon it by point (c) of paragraph 2 of Article 6 of Law No. 2/2008, of 27 February, the Law on the National Payments System, determines:
a) the Regulation of the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem is approved, which constitutes an annex to this Notice and forms an integral part thereof; b) Notice No. 2/GBM/2019, of 18 January, the Regulation of the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem, is revoked; 1656 I SERIES — NUMBER 201 c) this Notice enters into force on the date of its publication. Doubts arising in the interpretation and application of this Notice must be submitted to the Department of Banking Services and Payment System of the Bank of Mozambique. Maputo, 6 September 2021. – Governor, Rogério Lucas Zandamela. Regulation of the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem
CHAPTER I
General Provisions
ARTICLE 1
(Object)
This Notice regulates the operation of the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem (CEL) for payment instruments, as well as the settlement of payment operations.
ARTICLE 2
(Scope of Application)
This Notice applies to CEL participants.
ARTICLE 3
(Definitions)
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following shall be understood as:
a) Final beneficiary – the client who receives funds through a credit to their bank account; b) Clearing house – the central processing location or mechanism through which participants exchange instructions, payment instruments and documents subject to physical exchange or other financial obligations; c) Electronic clearing – the process of sending and calculating the sum of debtor and creditor balances of each participant in relation to the others, exclusively using information and communication technologies; d) Multilateral clearing – the procedure intended for calculating the sum of debtor and creditor balances of each participant in relation to the others; e) Settlement – the allocation of participants' positions, as debit or credit, resulting from their financial obligations in clearing in relation to the others; f) Receiving participant – the institution that receives files for electronic clearing; g) Sending participant – the institution that sends files for electronic clearing; h) Participants – the institutions authorized to participate in the CEL, listed in Article 4; and i) Truncation – the payment and retention by the sending participant of the documents received by them and forwarded for clearing by electronic means.
CHAPTER II
Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem
SECTION I
Conditions for Participation in the CEL
ARTICLE 4
(Participants)
The following may participate in the CEL:
a) the Bank of Mozambique; b) credit institutions authorized to receive deposits and other repayable and transferable funds through payment instruments; and c) other institutions eligible by the Bank of Mozambique.
ARTICLE 5
(Types of Participation)
1. Participation in the CEL may be carried out directly or indirectly.
2. Indirect participation in the CEL may be made through representation by a direct participant, who assumes, vis-à-vis the other participants, the rights and obligations of the institutions represented by him.
3. The Bank of Mozambique may, to ensure the regular and proper functioning of the National Payments System and to prevent payment risks, decide on the transition of a participant from the direct participation regime to the indirect participation regime, and vice-versa.
ARTICLE 6
(Participation Requirements)
1. The participation requirements in the CEL, for the institutions listed in points (b) and (c) of Article 4, are:
a) the indication, by the direct participant, of a demand deposit account for financial settlement purposes; b) the holding, by the participant, of securities that the Bank of Mozambique considers eligible for monetary policy purposes; c) compliance with the prudential limits and ratios of the participant, defined by the Bank of Mozambique; d) compliance, by the participant, with the technical requirements and procedures required for clearing, including cheque truncation, defined in the respective subsystem and operations manuals, which must be previously tested by the Bank of Mozambique.
2. Whenever a participant joins the electronic payment networks and the Mozambique Stock Exchange, it must send a letter to the Bank of Mozambique authorizing the allocation of its demand deposit account for the clearing results of those networks or the Mozambique Stock Exchange.
3. The Bank of Mozambique may, at any time, request additional information and documents from requesting or participating institutions and carry out investigations it deems necessary.
ARTICLE 7
(Application and Communication of Participation)
1. Applications for participation, alteration of the type of participation, as well as for cessation of participation in the CEL must be submitted by eligible institutions or participants to the Bank of Mozambique, with a minimum advance of 30 days in relation to the date foreseen for the verification of their claim.
2. The applications referred to in the preceding paragraph must be submitted with the following elements:
a) application form for participation, alteration of the type of participation or cessation of participation in the CEL, according to the model in Annex I; and b) supporting documents for the information provided or situations indicated in paragraph 1 of Article 6, where applicable.
3. Participation in the CEL is communicated by the Bank of Mozambique to all participants with the necessary advance notice.
SECTION II
Interbank Clearing and Settlement
ARTICLE 8
(Nature of Clearing and Settlement)
1. In the CEL, payment instruments and payment operations, expressed in Metical, are presented.
2. Clearing is electronic and multilateral.
3. Cheque clearing is based on truncation, with no physical exchange of cleared cheques.
ARTICLE 9
(Processing in the CEL)
Clearing is carried out through daily processing, by the Bank of Mozambique or another institution authorized by it, of electronic files of payment instruments sent by participants, in at least one session of acts, observing:
a) the transmission of the payment instrument file, including images, to be presented by participants; b) the calculation of results and the provision of the results file; c) the exchange of images of cleared cheques; d) the transmission of the payment instrument file, including images, to be returned by participants; e) the calculation of results, as well as the provision of the results file for returns; and f) the provision, to the final beneficiary, of funds from cleared payment instruments.
ARTICLE 10
(Processing and Coordination Entity)
1. The Bank of Mozambique ensures participants:
a) the receipt, processing and provision of electronic files; b) the receipt, processing and provision of images of cleared cheques; c) the provision of the platform for consultation of cheque images; and d) the financial settlement of participants' balances.
2. The Bank of Mozambique may designate a processing and/or coordinating entity for electronic clearing, whose responsibilities and obligations are established in a separate document and previously communicated to participants.
ARTICLE 11
(Calendar, Hours, Procedures and Operating Locations)
1. Clearing and financial settlement follow a calendar, hours and procedures defined by the Bank of Mozambique.
2. Clearing takes place in at least one daily settlement session at the national level, with several locations for the presentation of payment instruments, which have specific coding.
3. Clearing takes place every business day, except Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and national point tolerances, as well as point tolerance days verified in the location hosting the electronic clearing processing, covering the entire day.
ARTICLE 12
(Premiums and Commissions)
Premiums and commissions for the use of clearing are charged according to the Table of Premiums and Commissions approved by the Bank of Mozambique.
ARTICLE 13
(Payment Instruments)
1. The following payment instruments may be processed in the CEL:
a) Cheques; b) Interbank electronic transfers; c) Direct debits; and d) Others that the Bank of Mozambique deems relevant.
2. Payment operations processed in electronic payment networks, namely transfers, payments, withdrawals and deposits, as well as on the Mozambique Stock Exchange, are only subject to financial settlement in the CEL.
3. Other payment instruments not provided for in this Regulation are subject to clearing and financial settlement, under the terms and conditions established by the Bank of Mozambique.
ARTICLE 14
(Language for Filling Out Payment Instruments and Documents) All payment instruments presented for clearing must be filled out in Portuguese.
ARTICLE 15
(Responsibilities of Participants)
1. Participants must:
a) ensure high levels of technical competence, in general, and, in particular, operate with adequate human and material resources to guarantee the integrity, security, quality and efficiency of data and all activities in the CEL; b) ensure the existence of well-documented technical and operational procedures and strict compliance, and, whenever there are changes, that these are prior and properly tested. 1658 I SERIES — NUMBER 201
2. The receiving or sending participant:
a) may, when it has been proven to have suffered damage, promote settlement with the sending or receiving participant, through remuneration negotiable between the parties; b) must assume half of the calculated damage amount, when there is concurrent error between the sending and receiving participants.
3. The sending participant must:
a) guarantee the exact reproduction of the data contained in the payment instruments to be cleared, as well as assume the consequences that may arise from possible errors in that reproduction; b) replenish the amount in question on the same day, through the Real-Time Gross Settlement Transfer Subsystem (Metical Real-Time – MTR), whenever duplication of clearing files occurs; c) retain physical cheques, after sending their respective images, for a minimum period of one year.
4. After the period referred to in the preceding point (c), under the terms of Article 18 of the Regulation of Law No. 14/2013, of 12 August, approved by Decree No. 66/2014, of 29 October, cheques may be digitized or microfilmed.
5. The receiving participant must:
a) verify the conformity of the information sent to it, and, in case of non-conformity, proceed to its return, indicating the reasons provided for in this Regulation; and b) ensure correct information of the return reason and the reproduction of the remaining information of the original record.
6. The issuing participant of payment instruments is responsible for errors resulting from poor quality of the material used in their production or from non-observance of the specifications and instructions contained in the system manual and the norms on clearing and payment instruments established by the Bank of Mozambique.
7. The Bank of Mozambique ensures the faithful reproduction and provision of data regarding the movement intended for each participant, including cheque images, at the determined time, except in case of contingency or system unavailability.
ARTICLE 16
(File Transmission)
1. Clearing is carried out from the transmission of information regarding the payment instruments to be cleared or cleared between participants, in accordance with the specifications established by the Bank of Mozambique.
2. The hours for transmission and processing of electronic files, as well as the clearing cycle, are defined by the Bank of Mozambique.
ARTICLE 17
(Reasons for Return)
1. CEL participants may only return payment instruments and documents clearable for the following reasons:
…
11 – Lack or insufficiency of funds;
12 – Account closed;
13 – Account frozen or blocked;
14 – Written order from the issuer duly justified; 15 – Discrepancy and/or insufficiency in the issuer's signature; 16 – Improper clearing:
16.1 – Presentation out of time;
16.2 – Cancellation of passbook by the drawee participant;
16.3 – Cheque previously returned for reasons 12, 14, 15 and 18;
16.4 – Forged cheque;
16.5 – Falsified cheque;
16.6 – Payment instrument issued without prior control or responsibility of the participant;
16.7– Payment instrument returned twice for reason 11;
16.8 – Payment instrument filled out in a language other than Portuguese;
16.9 – Payment instrument lacking indication of issue date and place;
16.10 – Touched cheque or irregular endorsement;
17 – Absence or irregularity in the clearing stamp; 18 – Expiration of legal deadlines determined by the Commercial Code;
.............
… 51 – Payment order – beneficiary is not the client; ….
........
80 – Failure to deliver the cheque image by the participant; 81 – Logical file not processed or partially processed; 82 – Electronic clearing – inconsistent record; 83 – Duplicated record.
2. Returned payment instruments and documents must contain on the reverse a stamp with the following information: date and place of return, reason for return written legibly and without erasure, with the mention “Returned via the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem”, as stated in Annex III.
3. In case of concurrent reasons, provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, the participant must indicate only one of the reasons to justify the return.
4. In case of concurrent reasons, provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, of which one is lack or insufficiency of funds, the participant must only indicate reason 11 to justify the return.
ARTICLE 18
(Re-presentation of Returned Payment Instruments and Documents) Returned payment instruments and documents may be re-presented by participants in subsequent sessions.
ARTICLE 19
(Settlement and Calculation of Clearing Results)
1. The financial settlement of the results of interbank clearing in demand deposit accounts is considered definitive, irrevocable and unconditional, and may not, in any way, be annulled.
19 DE OUTUBRO DE 2021 1659
2. Each clearing participant is obliged to fund the demand deposit account they maintain at the Bank of Mozambique to guarantee the settlement of the clearing result.
3. The financial result of the clearing sessions calculated by the Bank of Mozambique is made available to participants immediately after processing and closing.
4. In case of lack or insufficiency of funds for the settlement of the clearing result, intraday credit is granted under the terms defined by the Bank of Mozambique.
ARTICLE 20
(Conservation and Integrity of Payment Instruments and Documents) The sending participant who holds physical payment instruments and documents included in the logical file is considered a depositary and must conserve and ensure the integrity of the aforementioned payment instruments, within the deadlines established by Article 17 of Law No. 14/2013, of 12 August – Law on the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.
ARTICLE 21
(Closing of the Clearing Session)
Clearing is only considered closed after the processing and closing of the return session.
CHAPTER III
Provision of Funds in the CEL
ARTICLE 22
(Deadlines for Provision of Funds to the Final Beneficiary)
1. The provision of funds to the final beneficiary of the cheque or similar document drawn on the participant represented in the location must occur by 9:30 a.m. on day D+2.
2. The provision of funds to the final beneficiary of interbank electronic transfers must occur by 4:00 p.m. on day D+1.
CHAPTER IV
Complementary and Final Provisions
ARTICLE 23
(Contingencies)
Business continuity and contingency procedures for cases of electronic system failures and other serious situations are established by the Bank of Mozambique.
ARTICLE 24
(Suspension, Exclusion and Readmission of the Participant in Clearing)
1. Suspension and exclusion of the participant from clearing are applied under the terms of Article 27 of Law No. 2/2008, of 27 February – Law establishing the National Payments System.
2. Within the framework of coordination and promotion of the proper functioning of the payments system, provided for in point (b) of paragraph 2 of Article 6 of Law No. 2/2008, of 27 February, the Bank of Mozambique communicates the suspension, exclusion and readmission of Clearing participants to the others.
3. The suspended participant may request readmission to Clearing, upon completion of the suspension period, and must present proof of the cessation of the cause determining the suspension.
ARTICLE 25
(Transitional Provision)
1. Without prejudice to the entry into force of electronic truncation clearing, participating institutions have a period of 45 days to comply with the provisions of this Law.
2. During the period referred to in the preceding paragraph, participating institutions may proceed with the physical exchange of cheques.
ARTICLE 26
(Sanctioning Regime)
Violation of the provisions of this Notice constitutes a contravention provided for and punishable under the terms of Law No. 2/2008, of 27 February, the Law on the National Payments System. 1660 I SERIES — NUMBER 201 i
Annex I
Application Form for Participation, Alteration of the Type of Participation and Cessation of Participation in the Interbank Clearing and Settlement Subsystem (Fill in with capital letters) Type of request: Admission: ______ Alteration: ______ Cessation: ______ Requesting Institution:
Name:
Bank Code:
NIB:
Identification of the settlement account holder(s) Name:
Bank Code:
NIB:
Contact persons for CEL monitoring:
Principal
Name:
Role:
Landline: Mobile:
E-mail:
Substitute
Name:
Role:
Landline: Mobile:
E-mail:
Date: ___ /___ /_____
(dd/mm/yyyy)
Authorized signatures of the participating institution:
Name: _________________________ Name: _________________________ Role: ________________________ Role: ________________________ (a). Only for indirect participants. 19 DE OUTUBRO DE 2021 1661 ii
Annex II
Clearing Stamp
50 mm

40 mm
PROCESSED VIA THE
INTERBANK CLEARING AND
SETTLEMENT SUBSYSTEM
DD/MM/YYYY
BANK ALFA
"LOCATION"
30 mm
30 mm
1662 I SERIES — NUMBER 201 iii
Annex III
Return Stamp
50 mm

40mm
RETURNED VIA THE
INTERBANK CLEARING
AND SETTLEMENT SUBSYSTEM
REASON:___________________
DD/MM/YYYY
(LOCATION)
SIGNATURE
BANK ALFA
30 mm
30 mm
19 DE OUTUBRO DE 2021 1663
Notice No. 3 /GBM/2021 of 19 October
Law No. 20/2020, of 31 December, the Credit Institutions and Financial Companies Law, which revokes Law No. 15/99, of 1 November, amended by Law No. 9/2004, of 21 July, reclassified existing financial institutions, considering as credit institutions only those that capture deposits and all the