The Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) decided to extend, until Tuesday 26th June, the public consultation on the reform of articles 3 and 22 of the Regulation for Foreign Currency Transactions. The objective is that all entities authorized to participate in the foreign exchange market notify the BCCR of the exchange rates, surcharges, commissions or other costs that are included in the purchase and sale of foreign currency. Once the Central Bank finishes receiving comments or observations, it will begin to elaborate a final report that could take up to six months to be published.

The notifications that the exchange entities must make to the BCCR will be carried out through the MONEX system. The price of the foreign currency at the counter will be communicated before the beginning of the day and will be updated in less than 10 minutes after each modification. The buy and sell rates must always be shown in the currency exchange houses and on their websites.

The BCCR expects customers to access the same exchange rate regardless of the volume of money they are going to negotiate. The information available to the public is key, if one takes into account that the advertised value often does not coincide with the real price applied by banks and exchange houses. The banking authority considers that the unification of the disseminated data would stimulate a better price formation and increase the level of competition in the sector, by revealing which intermediaries offer better conditions.