Título VIII. Disposiciones generales, transitorias y finales

The members of the Monetary Board, authorities, officials and employees of the Bank of Guatemala, against whom proceedings, lawsuits or claims are brought arising from acts and decisions adopted in accordance with the law in the exercise of their powers, functions or obligations, have the right to have the Central Bank cover the expenses and costs that are necessary for their defense.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to those members of the Monetary Board, authorities, officials and employees of the Central Bank, even when they are no longer holding such positions, provided that the proceedings, lawsuits or claims brought arise from acts and decisions adopted in accordance with the law in the exercise of the powers, functions or obligations that corresponded to them.

The Monetary Board, upon proposal of the Bank of Guatemala, shall issue the regulation that will determine the mechanism to be implemented for the purposes of the provisions of this article.

The Bank of Guatemala shall pay to the Superintendency of Banks, as a charge for oversight and inspection, the difference between the sum of the contributions made by the other entities subject to supervision and the total amount of the budget of the Superintendency of Banks.

The Bank of Guatemala shall collect rates or commissions for the services it provides in the exercise of its functions, as well as fees when it acts as trustee.

Where the services must be provided by the Central Bank and the Central Bank is not in a position to provide them, or it is advisable to contract for them, the Bank may contract them with such natural or legal persons as it deems appropriate.

Bank reserve requirements (encajes bancarios), as well as other funds deposited by the Banks in the Bank of Guatemala, or in other entities that the latter contracts for that purpose, shall serve as the basis for the check clearing system, by means of a clearinghouse.

The Monetary Board shall regulate the clearinghouse, whether public or private, and it shall be incumbent upon the Superintendency of Banks to ensure that the participants in said clearinghouse comply with the respective regulation.

The Bank of Guatemala is prohibited from:

a)Transferring results from exchange rate differentials;

b)Granting loans to individuals or legal entities, except to the banks of the system in accordance with Article 48 of this Law;

c)Granting financing, guarantees or sureties to the State or to its decentralized and autonomous entities;

d)Purchasing immovable property, with the exception of that which is necessary for its normal operation, as well as retaining ownership of movable or immovable property that it acquires judicially or extrajudicially, which it must dispose of within a time limit not exceeding two years counted from the date of acquisition. If disposal is not achieved within the specified time limit, the Bank shall be obligated to offer such property at public auction at the time, in the manner and under the other conditions established by the Monetary Board in the regulation it issues for that purpose;

e)Purchasing shares, except those issued by international financial organizations in which the Bank of Guatemala participates on behalf of the Republic of Guatemala;

f)Acquiring in the primary market the securities issued or traded by the State and its decentralized and autonomous entities;

g)Participating directly or indirectly in any commercial, agricultural, industrial or other kind of enterprise;

h)Paying or covering any overdraft incurred by the banking entities of the country in the reserve requirement account;

i)Paying or covering any overdraft in the monetary accounts of the State, its agencies, and the decentralized or autonomous entities; and,

j)Carrying out any operations not authorized by this Law, except those which, without being prohibited, are compatible with its nature as a Central Bank and necessary for the fulfillment of its fundamental objective.

The Bank of Guatemala enjoys a total customs exemption for the importation into national territory of metals to be used for coinage, as well as for the importation of banknote forms and finished metal coins.

Importation under the exemption shall be subject to the procedures established by the laws of the Republic, and shall be carried out with full release from fiscal and consular duties.

The assets of the Central Bank are not subject to attachment.

The Bank of Guatemala shall cancel, as of the entry into force of this Law, the deposit accounts of State entities held at the Central Bank that show more than six (6) months without movement and whose funds come from the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State. The balances of such accounts shall be transferred to the Common Fund account and shall be included in the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State for the next fiscal year.

On the date on which this Law enters into force, the assets and liabilities of the Securities Regulation Fund referred to in Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic, Organic Law of the Bank of Guatemala, shall be transferred to the Central Bank, and the capital of said fund shall be allocated to constitute part of the Guarantee Fund referred to in this Law.

Importations of banknotes, coins and metals that the Bank of Guatemala may have made as of January 1, 1992, and that are pending formalization, enjoy the customs exemption under the terms referred to in Article 132 of Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic and, consequently, the Central Bank shall complete the respective formalizations.

The property, rights and obligations, as well as the administrative and judicial actions and the contracts, respectively acquired, incurred, brought or filed, and executed by the Bank of Guatemala, created pursuant to Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic, Organic Law of the Bank of Guatemala, shall remain and be preserved unaltered for the resulting legal purposes, as of the date on which this Law enters into force.

The case files of any nature, proceedings, applications and matters of any kind that are in process or pending processing at the Bank of Guatemala, created by Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic, Organic Law of the Bank of Guatemala, shall continue to be handled and shall be resolved in accordance with the provisions of the Decree referred to in this article.

The accounting records of the Bank of Guatemala, created pursuant to Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic, Organic Law of the Bank of Guatemala, shall continue to be used by the Central Bank referred to in this Law.

The banknotes and coins issued and minted, respectively, by the Bank of Guatemala, created by Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic, Organic Law of the Bank of Guatemala, that have not been put into circulation, and those that make up the current monetary circulation of the Republic, shall be deemed, in the first case, legally issued and minted, and, in the second case, shall continue to circulate throughout the territory of the country and shall have legal tender status and unlimited discharging power, as long as they are not legally replaced by the banknotes and coins issued by the Bank of Guatemala referred to in this Law.

The authorities, officials and employees of the Bank of Guatemala, created by Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic, Organic Law of the Bank of Guatemala, form part of the Bank of Guatemala to which this Law refers and, consequently, as of the date on which this Law enters into force, shall continue to maintain, and accordingly retain unaltered, their employment relationship with it.

The transfer of financial resources to the Bank of Guatemala by official entities, which may result from the application of Article 55 of this Law, shall be regulated by the Monetary Board.

The State, through the Ministry of Public Finance, shall absorb the accumulated cost of monetary, exchange rate and credit policy reflected on the balance sheet of the Central Bank as of the accounting close of the year prior to the date on which this Law enters into force. To that end, the Superintendency of Banks, with the assistance of international specialists in Central Banking, shall conduct an audit to determine the adjustments required to the balance sheet of the Bank of Guatemala in order to establish its real net worth. Said audit shall be conducted within a time limit of no more than three (3) months counted from the entry into force of this Law. Within a time limit of three (3) months from the conclusion of the audit, the Ministry of Public Finance shall restore the net worth of the Bank of Guatemala to an adequate level that shall in no case be less than zero. The Ministry of Public Finance shall issue long-term public debt securities, with zero interest rates.

The term for which the President and Vice President of the Monetary Board and of the Bank of Guatemala, currently in office, were appointed shall end on the thirtieth (30th) of September of the year two thousand two.

Decree Number 215 of the Congress of the Republic, Organic Law of the Bank of Guatemala, is hereby repealed. Likewise, all provisions of any nature that conflict with this Law are hereby repealed.

This Law was approved by the favorable vote of two-thirds of the total number of deputies comprising 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.

This Decree shall be published in the official gazette and shall enter into force on the first of June of the year two thousand two.