Setting a maximum usury rate and preventing clients from getting into debt to the extent of reducing their income below the minimum wage line are some of the changes that have arisen due to the application of the new law that has been in force since June 20.
On June 20, 2020 the Usury Law was published in the scope number 150 to La Gaceta number 147, which establishes the methodology to be used to set the maximum interest rate, from which the crime of usury will be considered to exist, details an official statement.
A bill introduced in the Legislative Assembly proposes regulating cooperatives and credit associations whose savings range from $30 million to $92 million.
The bill, prepared by the Federation of Association of Savings and Credit Cooperatives of El Salvador (Fedecaces), proposes establishing a different regulation, more appropriate to the size and characteristics of these entities.
Without reaching a consensus with the financial sector, the deputies said that the bill will set the maximum interest rate that can be charged on credit cards at 54%.
The agreement reached by the Honduran Association of Banking Institutions and the committee of deputies working on the bill was rejected by President Hernandez, and since then, the negotiation process has stalled.
A bill put forward by the executive branch aims to regulate interest rates charged by banks on credit cards and eliminate service charges, among other changes.
From a statement issued by the President of Honduras:
Tegucigalpa, February 9.President of the Republic, Juan Orlando Hernández, today sent to Congress a bill aimed at introducing new regulations to the credit card market to avoid abuses against consumers.
Unions are opposed to the legal reform which aims to extend the scope of the supervision of the Superintendent of Financial System over savings and loans cooperatives.
In the view of Julio Cesar Portillo, secretary of the board of the National Commission for credit unions in El Salvador and CEO of Co-Andes de R.L. ,"...
Regardless of who is right about the motives, the resignations from an international committee set up to review practices in Panama's financial industry, and the ensuing squabbling, has only aggravated the bad perception of these practices.
EDITORIAL
The presence of the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and the notorious Swiss criminologist Mark Pieth along with Panamanian and regional personalities, in a commission to review the practices of the local financial industry, had the obvious good intention of communicating to the world Panama's also good intentions of reversing the country's image as a tax haven.
The maximum amount allowed for banking transactions in cash in foreign and national currency has been lowered from $10,000 to $4,000.
From a resolution by the Central Bank of Honduras:
For purposes of the application of Articles 8, 12, 23 and 25 and in compliance with the provisions of Article 86 of the Special Law against Money Laundering the following amounts have been established:
The changes in the technical standards governing the Usury Act which will be in effect from June 27 detail the information that must be provided by financial institutions when lending.
From a report by the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador:
The Board of the Central Reserve Bank, in Session No.
According to the nicaraguan regulator, the increasing amount of regulation and anti-money laundering controls that the US banks are subject to, has led some of them to remove their correspondent agencies from the country.
The president of the Association of Private Banks in Nicaragua (Asobanp), Juan Carlos Arguello, said in an article on Laprensa.com.ni that "...
The Panamanian government has announced its willingness to review current practices in the legal and financial system and collaborate with other governments in legal proceedings over financial and tax offenses.
Following the massive leak of financial information from a Panamanian law firm, the Government announced that it is evaluating the practices relating to its financial system and that it will collaborate with other jurisdictions to investigate citizens suspected of criminal activities, including tax evasion. The announcement was made by President Juan Carlos Varela.
The Superior Court has ordered the temporary cancellation due to lack of a ruling from the Bank of Guatemala, and the fact that Congress gave approval without having a majority, as stipulated by law.
The Constitutional Court (CC) has provisionally suspended the Credit Card Act, which came into force on March 8. Gloria Porras, president of the CC, told Prensalibre.com that one of the major failings was that Congress did not pass the Law with 105 votes, which is defined as a majority.
The Superintendency of Securities is working on a proposal that would make mandatory to have a risk rating on each debt issuance registered in the panamanian market.
The initiative put forward by the authorities of the Panamanian stock market comes days after the collapse of the Panamanian RG Hotels Company, which in 2012 issued bonds with unrated debt risk, leaving investors who bought these securities unprotected.
The Superintendent of the Financial System has started monitoring the operations of companies that send and receive remittances.
With the law reform passed by the Assembly, legal persons performing operations to systematically send or receive money or substantial amounts, by any means, at national and international level, will be supervised by the Superintendency of the Financial System.
An extension has been given to the deadline to make payments without affecting credit ratings and there are more flexible requirements for loans up to $350,000, both part of the changes approved by the Central Bank.
From a statement issued by the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador (BCR):
The productive sectors now have more opportunities to acquire appropriations loans for agriculture, manufacturing, export trade, construction, electricity, transportation, storage, communications and services.