Resolution CMN No. 4000 — Amends and Consolidates Rules on Directing Demand Deposits to Microcredit Operations for Low-Income Populations and Microentrepreneurs

RESOLUTION NO. 4000

Amends and consolidates the rules governing the performance of microcredit operations destined for the low-income population and microentrepreneurs.

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 August 25, 2011, based on Articles 2 of Law No. 10,735, of September 11, 2003, Articles 2 and 3 of Law No. 11,110, of April 25, 2005, and Decree No. 5,288, of November 29, 2004,

RESOLVES:

Art. 1. Multiple banks with commercial portfolios, commercial banks, and Caixa Econômica Federal must maintain applied, in microcredit operations destined for the low-income population and microentrepreneurs, an amount corresponding to at least 2% (two percent) of the balances of demand deposits captured by the institution.

Sole Paragraph. The following shall not be considered in the calculation of the requirement:

I - demand deposits captured by federal and state public financial institutions:

a) from their respective governments; and

b) from autarchies and mixed-economy companies whose capital is majority-owned by their respective governments;

II - demand deposits captured by state public financial institutions held by municipal public entities of the respective federative unit.

Art. 2. For the purposes of this Resolution, microcredit operations are considered those carried out with:

I - low-income population:

a) natural persons who fall under Article 3, item I, of Complementary Law No. 111, of July 6, 2001;

b) natural persons holders of special deposit accounts as provided in Resolution No. 3,211, of June 30, 2004;

c) natural persons holding other deposit accounts that, together with other investments held by them in any financial institution, have a monthly average balance of less than R$3,000.00 (three thousand reais); and

II - microentrepreneurs, understood as natural or legal persons entrepreneurial in productive activity of a professional, commercial, or industrial nature, with gross annual income that does not exceed the value established in Article 3 of Decree No. 5,288, of November 29, 2004.

Sole Paragraph. The credit beneficiary must sign a written declaration or by electronic signature informing:

I - in the case of natural persons referred to in item I of the main text, that the sum of the value of the operation with the balance of other credit operations does not exceed the limit established in Article 3, item II, letter "a";

II - in the case of natural persons referred to in item I, letter "c", of the main text, that they do not hold a monthly average balance in a deposit account that, together with other investments, exceeds R$3,000.00 (three thousand reais); and

III - in the case of microentrepreneurs referred to in item II of the main text, that the sum of the value of the operation with the balance of other credit operations does not exceed R$20,000.00 (twenty thousand reais), excluding from this limit housing credit operations.

Art. 3. Microcredit operations must also observe the following conditions, prohibiting the charging of any other fees or expenses:

I - effective interest rates cannot exceed:

a) 2% p.m. (two percent per month); or

b) 4% p.m. (four percent per month) in guided productive microcredit operations granted in accordance with Article 4;

II - the credit value cannot exceed:

a) R$2,000.00 (two thousand reais), when it concerns credit to natural persons referred to in Article 2, item I;

b) R$5,000.00 (five thousand reais), when it concerns credit for microentrepreneurs referred to in Article 2, item II;

c) R$15,000.00 (fifteen thousand reais), when it concerns credit for microentrepreneurs referred to in Article 2, item II, granted in the form of guided productive microcredit in accordance with Article 4;

III - the term of the operation cannot be less than 120 days;

IV - the value of the credit opening fee cannot exceed the following percentages of the value of the credit granted:

a) up to 2% (two percent), when it concerns natural persons referred to in Article 2, item I; or

b) up to 3% (three percent), when it concerns microentrepreneurs referred to in Article 2, item II.

§ 1. It is exceptionally admitted the contracting of operations in a term shorter than that provided in item III of the main text, in which case the limits for credit opening fees established in item IV must be reduced in the same proportion.

§ 2. It is at the discretion of the institution to require guarantee in microcredit operations, admitting, inclusive, joint guarantee in a group with, at least, three participants, fiduciary alienation, and surety.

Art. 4. Guided Productive Microcredit National Program (PNMPO), instituted by Law No. 11,110, of April 25, 2005, includes microcredit operations granted under the following conditions, cumulatively:

I - carried out by multiple banks with commercial portfolios, commercial banks, and Caixa Econômica Federal, which have their own structure for the development of these operations, and by guided productive microcredit institutions, defined in Law No. 11,110, of 2005, thus understood:

a) single credit cooperatives;

b) development agencies;

c) microentrepreneur and small business credit companies;

d) Civil Society Organizations of Public Interest, constituted in accordance with Law No. 9,790, of March 23, 1999, which develop credit activities destined to microentrepreneurs;

II - destined for the financing of goods, renovations, services, and working capital essential to the enterprise, including the credit opening fee, to meet the financial needs of the entrepreneurs mentioned in Article 2, item II; and

III - use methodology based on direct relationship with the entrepreneur at the location where the economic activity is performed, in accordance with the established in Article 1, § 3, of Law No. 11,110, of 2005.

§ 1. The institutions referred to in item I of the main text, to operate in the PNMPO, must qualify themselves before the Ministry of Labor and Employment, through registration, term of commitment, and work plan, discriminating the methodology of guided productive microcredit to be used, the form of monitoring of the financing, with the respective instruments to be used, and performance indices.

§ 2. Development banks, development agencies, cooperative banks, and central credit cooperatives may act in the intermediation of resources between financial institutions and guided productive microcredit institutions provided they are qualified by the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

§ 3. Guided productive microcredit operations may also be carried out by the guided productive microcredit institutions referred to in item I of the main text, through service provision contract, in the name of the financial institutions subject to the requirement referred to in Article 1.

Art. 5. For the fulfillment of the application requirement referred to in Article 1, the following must be considered:

I - resources transferred to other financial institutions, through interfinancial deposit linked to microfinance operations (DIM) exclusively for applications in microcredit operations, observing the provisions of Resolution No. 3,399, of August 29, 2006, and complementary regulation;

II - credits arising from operations of advances, loans, and financing that meet the conditions established in this Resolution, acquired from:

a) other financial institutions;

b) Civil Society Organizations of Public Interest;

c) non-governmental organizations whose statutes provide for the performance of microcredit operations; and

d) entities, funds, or programs aimed at microcredit.

§ 1. It is the responsibility of the institution depositary of the resources referred to in item I of the main text to prove the application of the captured values, under penalty of remitting the unapplied resources to the Central Bank of Brazil, as provided in Article 7, § 2.

§ 2. In guided productive microcredit operations, acquired in the manner provided in item II of the main text, the responsibility for the provision of the services mentioned in Article 4, item III, inherent to these operations, remains with the granting entity.

§ 3. The verification, at any time, of non-compliance with the conditions for characterizing an operation as guided productive microcredit, own or acquired from third parties, will imply its disqualification for the purposes of fulfilling the application requirement in microcredit operations, and the information sent to the Central Bank of Brazil regarding this must be rectified immediately.

§ 4. Overdue and unpaid operations may be computed for the fulfillment of the requirement, observing the following percentages:

I - 100% (one hundred percent) in the first year after maturity; and

II - 50% (fifty percent) in the second year.

Art. 6. Regarding the fulfillment of the requirement referred to in Article 1, from July 2013, 80% (eighty percent) of the balance of applications, at least, must be destined for guided productive microcredit operations.

§ 1. For the purposes of reaching the percentage referred to in the main text, the following must be observed:

I - 10% (ten percent), from January 1, 2012;

II - 40% (forty percent), from July 1, 2012; and

III - 60% (sixty percent), from January 1, 2013.

§ 2. Compliance with the minimum percentage provided in this article is admitted through DIM.

Art. 7. For the verification of compliance with the application requirement in microcredit operations, carried out monthly on the 20th of each month or on the first subsequent business day, when the 20th is a non-business day, the following must be considered:

I - the application requirement, which corresponds to the average of the values resulting from the application of the minimum percentages required on the daily balances of demand deposits in the twelve months prior to the month immediately preceding the month in which the verification is being performed;

II - the average of the daily balances of eligible operations in the twelve months immediately prior to the month in which the verification is being performed; and

III - the average of the daily balances of operations destined for guided productive microcredit in the month immediately prior to the month in which the verification is being performed.

§ 1. The computation of the deficiency of applications relative to the requirement will be the largest, in absolute value, between the following values:

I - the difference between the values described in items I and II of the main text; or

II - from the calculation period starting on January 1, 2012, the difference between the value calculated in the manner of item III of the main text and that corresponding to the minimum percentage destined for the granting of guided productive microcredit operations, established in the manner of Article 6.

§ 2. The deficiency of applications, if any, must be remitted to the Central Bank of Brazil, in current currency, remaining unavailable until the date of verification of compliance with the requirement in the following month.

Art. 8. In the contracting of microcredit operations referred to in this Resolution, simplified procedures may be adopted for the preparation of the registration form and for the elaboration of the contract representing the debt.

Art. 9. In the institutions referred to in the main text of Article 1 that have more than 10,000 (ten thousand) guided productive microcredit clients, the board must implement specific internal controls with a view to ensuring that the procedures adopted for the granting of operations are in conformity with Article 4, with emphasis on the aspects of direct relationship with the entrepreneur at the location of their activity, the prior socioeconomic survey before granting, and monitoring during the contract period.

Sole Paragraph. The internal controls referred to in the main text must be subject to annual review by internal audit.

Art. 10. The Central Bank of Brazil is authorized to:

I - dispose on the terms and negotiability of the DIMs, referred to in Article 5;

II - adopt the measures and issue the norms judged necessary for the execution of the provisions of this Resolution; and

III - request information regarding the operations referred to in this Resolution.

Art. 11. This Resolution enters into force on the date of its publication.

Art. 12. Article 9 of Resolution No. 3,706, of March 27, 2009, and Resolution No. 3,422, of November 30, 2006, are repealed, with the regulatory basis and citations to the latter normative having as reference this Resolution.

Brasília, August 25, 2011.

Altamir Lopes
President of the Central Bank, substitute