Resolution CMN No. 2932 — Amends and Consolidates Rules on Operating Hours of Financial Institutions and Business Days for Financial Market Operations

RESOLUTION NO. 2932

Amends and consolidates the rules governing the operating hours of financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil, as well as regarding business days for purposes of transactions carried out in the financial market.

THE CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL, in accordance with Article 9 of Law No. 4,595 of December 31, 1964, makes public that the NATIONAL MONETARY COUNCIL, in a session held on February 28, 2002, having in view the provisions of Article 4, item VIII, of the aforementioned law, which attributes to that Council exclusive and non-concurrent competence to regulate the operating hours of institutions integrated into the National Financial System, and considering the end of the programs to address the electricity crisis, as provided in Provisional Measure No. 2,198-5 of August 24, 2001,

RESOLVES:

Article 1. It is optional for financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil to establish, at their discretion and independently, the operating hours of their headquarters and other facilities, subject to the provisions of paragraph 1.

Paragraph 1. In the case of branches of multiple banks with commercial portfolios, commercial banks, and the Federal Savings Bank (Caixa Econômica Federal), the following must be observed:

I - the minimum operating hours for the public shall be five uninterrupted hours daily, with mandatory service during the period from 12:00 to 15:00 hours, Brasília time;

II - on Ash Wednesday, on December 24, and in exceptional cases, such as local festivities or extraordinary events, special operating hours may be established, provided that a minimum period of two hours of service to the public is guaranteed.

Paragraph 2. Pioneer branches are not subject to the minimum hours or mandatory service provided for in paragraph 1, items I and II.

Paragraph 3. Each facility is obliged to publish, in a location and format visible to the public, its respective service hours.

Paragraph 4. The establishment of hours provided for in this article does not require communication to the Central Bank of Brazil, including in the cases referred to in paragraph 1, item II.

Article 2. There shall be no service to the public on the last business day of the year by the institutions referred to in Article 1, allowing on that day only operations between the aforementioned institutions.

Article 3. When a facility remains open after the deadline from which it is no longer possible for documentation to reach the exchange session of the Check and Other Papers Clearing Service - SCCOP, all operations of that facility carried out after this time must be included in the movement of the first subsequent business day.

Sole Paragraph. In the cases provided for in this article, the aforementioned deadline hour must be published in accordance with Article 1, paragraph 3.

Article 4. In the event of a change in the public service hours of a facility, as well as in the cases referred to in Article 1, paragraph 1, item II, the new hours must be communicated to the public at least thirty days in advance.

Article 5. Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays, as well as:

I - Monday and Tuesday of Carnival;

II - the day dedicated to Corpus Christi;

III - November 2,

are not considered business days for purposes of transactions carried out in the financial market and for the provision of information to the Central Bank of Brazil.

Article 6. It remains optional for financial institutions to provide the following services:

I - banking service through special structures installed in an area contiguous to that of a functioning facility;

II - collection and delivery, at home, of cash, checks, and other negotiable documents.

Sole Paragraph. Regarding the services referred to in item I, the following must be observed:

I - the records of the services performed must be incorporated into the accounting of the respective facility;

II - their implementation must be communicated to the Central Bank of Brazil.

Article 7. The Central Bank of Brazil is authorized to:

I - issue the rules and adopt the measures deemed necessary for the execution of the provisions of this resolution;

II - suspend service to the public in the facilities of financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by that Autarchy in all or part of the national territory, when so required by states of public calamity, serious disturbance of internal order, or other cases of pronounced gravity;

III - ratify the suspension of service to the public, adopted by decision of the institutions themselves referred to in Article 1, paragraph 1, in cases where the situations mentioned in item II justify it.

Article 8. This resolution enters into force on the date of its publication, producing effects from March 11, 2002.

Sole Paragraph. The change in service hours by the institutions referred to in Article 1, as a result of the provisions of this resolution, is not subject to the requirement of communication to the public at least thirty days in advance, as provided for in Article 4.

Article 9. Resolutions No. 2,301 of July 25, 1996, No. 2,839 of June 1, 2001, and No. 2,875 of July 26, 2001, and Circulars No. 3,040 of June 8, 2001, and No. 3,065 of October 10, 2001, are repealed, effective from March 11, 2002, and the references contained in Circular No. 2,890 of May 20, 1999, and Circular Letter No. 2,876 of October 21, 1999, are transferred to Resolutions No. 2,516 of June 29, 1998, and No. 2,596 of March 26, 1999, respectively, both repealed by Resolution No. 2,875, with respect to this Resolution.

Brasília, February 28, 2002

Arminio Fraga Neto
President