The President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, yesterday issued executive decree 395, through which it seeks to generate better coordination for the control of entities not regulated by the Superintendence of Banks and by the Superintendence of Popular and Solidarity Economy. This is the regulation application of articles 62 and 254,275 and 276 of the Monetary and Financial Organic Code. These articles provide that the Superintendencies must supervise, in addition to the authorized entities, those that have not been authorized.
The document is issued after several years of coordinated work with the control entities, and at a time when the appearance of several irregular businesses that could illegally capture money and cause fraud to their clients is known.
These days, for example, it was known of the raid on a company called Fortunario Activos Digitales that allegedly illegally captured money. Other cases have been known in the country, such as that of Big Money.
The Decree 395, issued on April 5, establishes that the Superintendencies of Banks and the Popular and Solidarity Economy must establish that natural or legal persons are carrying out prohibited financial activities in unauthorized entities. They can carry out inspections. On the other hand, it is indicated that criminal action for the commission of crimes related to financial activities corresponds to ordinary justice, independent of administrative sanctions.
It is also stated that when the case merits, it must be coordinated with the Financial Analysis Unit of Ecuador (UAFE), the National Police and the Prosecutor’s Office. And it is indicated that the police must provide projection, support or assistance for inspection activities.
The decree also establishes that If the allegedly illegal activities were carried out by entities under the control of the Superintendence of Companies or the Market Power Control, they must inform them of the alleged commission of the crime.. The same is provided in the event that these other Superintendencies are the ones that have knowledge of irregular activities.
About the topic, Rosa Matilde Guerrero, Superintendent of Banks (s) reported this April 7 that the executive decree that has just been issued, It allows to act in a better way on the issue of unauthorized entities. A better channel of communication is opened and the accompaniment of the Police can be coordinated.
However, he clarified that the best practices of the Basel standards that the Superintendence wants to apply are not consistent with the article of the Code. The Basel principles, he indicated, say that supervision and control must be applied to the entities that the control entity itself authorizes.
Nevertheless, recalled that in 2014 the law included an article indicating that the supervisor must monitor entities that have not been authorized and are therefore outside the regulatory perimeter. This article, Guerrero pointed out, is outside of the good Basel practices and is unenforceable.
However, being a law, they have made efforts to maintain a presence. Thus, from May 2019 to March 2022, 70 alerts about this type of entities, in the Prosecutor’s Office and complaints have also been made before the Financial Analysis Unit of Ecuador (UAFE).
Work has also been done giving early warnings to citizens, through social networks, about the risks of entities. Between 2019 and 2022 there have been 750,591 views on alerts placed by the control entity. In addition, the supervisors have also attended in person, when an address has been obtained to determine that this or that location should be closed. In these processes, the integrity of the supervisors has been put at risk.
About the cryptocurrencies, which these days are promoted mainly on social networks, Guerrero said that in Ecuador there is no specific regulation for the subject, which is a complex issue. He explained that it is a risky asset and that the first thing that should be done is to generate a regulation in this regard. He explained that the Financial Regulation Board should be in charge of this issue, and that from what he has learned, it would be going precisely in that line. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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