ECUADOR

On May 3 the Executive Branch enacted the law that modifies the Organic Monetary and Financial Code to ensure the Defense of the Dollarization. The aim of the law is to improve the supervision of the financial system and grant autonomy to the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE, in Spanish). The law also seeks to strengthen the national economy and improve financial sustainability. Its approval was one of the commitments acquired by the government with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September 2020. The law is already in force

The regulation states that under no circumstances will the State assume responsibility for bank solvency, nor will it act as guarantor for the financial system.The new Financial Regulation and Policy Board will be the entity in charge of defining the interest rate system. Among the functions of the new Board is to establish the amounts and terms for the payment of public services through bank transfers, credit cards, debit cards or other electronic means of payment.

Regarding the regulation of savings and credit cooperatives, the Assembly members made adjustments to ensure the proper functioning and to preserve the fundamental characteristics of closed cooperatives. In this sense, their social function and their place in the financial system is recognized, allowing them to have access to reimbursable and non-reimbursable financing through associativity and solidarity.