Título IV. Disposiciones finales

Except in cases where the Bank of Guatemala grants express authorization upon the reasoned request of the interested parties, it is prohibited for any person, whether natural or legal, to reproduce in any form, as well as to make engravings, lithographs or prints of, banknotes or parts of banknotes issued by the Bank of Guatemala. Likewise prohibited are the circulation, distribution or use for advertising purposes or in any other form, and the use, of imitations of such banknotes, and the circulation of flyers, cards or any other kind of announcement or publication containing prints, engravings or reproductions that represent such banknotes.

Those who contravene the provisions of the preceding paragraph, or who collaborate with them, shall be sanctioned with fines in the equivalent in Quetzales of up to ten thousand United States dollars, and the confiscation of the objects subject of the contravention. The fines shall be imposed by the Ministry of Economy at the request of the Bank of Guatemala. The funds arising from such fines shall be deposited in the Government of the Republic - Common Fund account.

Banknotes, coins, and precious metals such as gold, silver, and others are articles of free trade and, consequently, are subject to free possession, importation, exportation, and trading.

Monetary species that are legal tender shall be exempt from all kinds of taxes, fees, municipal levies and contributions.

Likewise, monetary exchange operations carried out in accordance with this Law, whether they involve the exchange of some national monetary species for others, the payment of checks drawn against bank deposit accounts and of foreign currency for national currency, or the acquisition and disposal of documents that involve international transfers, shall also be exempt from taxes, fees, municipal levies and contributions.

This Law was approved by the favorable vote of two-thirds of the total number of deputies who make up the Congress of the Republic and, for its amendment, the same qualified majority shall be required.

The Monetary Board shall issue the regulations necessary for the proper application of this Law.

The coins and banknotes issued pursuant to Decree Number 139-96 of the Congress of the Republic, Law on Monetary Species (Ley de Especies Monetarias), shall retain their value, legal tender status and unlimited power of discharge, so long as they have not been called in for exchange or replaced by the new coins and banknotes issued by the Bank of Guatemala pursuant to the provisions of this Law.

The Bank of Guatemala may continue issuing banknotes and coins with the characteristics established in Decree Number 139-96 of the Congress of the Republic, Law on Monetary Species, until existing stocks are exhausted.

The following are hereby repealed: Decree Number 203, Monetary Law; Decree Number 139-96, Law of Monetary Species; Decree Number 63-73, all of the Congress of the Republic; and Article 1396 of Decree-Law Number 106, Civil Code; as well as any law, regulation or provision of any nature that conflicts with this Decree.

This Decree was declared a matter of national urgency with the favorable vote of more than two-thirds of the total number of deputies comprising the Congress of the Republic, was approved in a single debate, shall be published in the official gazette, and shall enter into force on June first, two thousand two.