We are attending one of the most anticipated sporting events, at least in our country, which is the World Cup, which as we all know will take place in Qatar and has created a lot of expectations.
Given this panorama and from the perspective of the employment relationship, it is important to take into account that there are aspects that must be considered by both the workers and the employers, so that the parties are clear about the rules of the game and thus avoiding getting yellow or red cards (understood in the workplace as warnings or dismissals).
First of all, workers must not forget that, during the hours of the meetings, if they coincide with the working day, they must continue to comply with all their obligations and the internal guidelines of the organization, this in accordance with article 71 subparagraphs a) and b) of the Labor Code and with the employment contract, that is, there is no implicit permission to watch or listen to the games during the working day (including those of the National Team), and any breach in this regard could result in disciplinary sanctions.
Along these same lines, we can also find cases regarding matches that take place before or after the working day, since there are no implicit permits to either arrive late at the workplace, connect at the wrong time to the tasks carried out remotely or to leave the same time before the departure time.
Also, given the World Cup fever, on many occasions workers want to wear the jerseys of the national teams during the working day and attend the offices with them or connect to video calls with them, however, if the company has clothing guidelines, these must be be respected.
On the other hand, in the cases of workers who work remotely, they should be reminded that even when they are not in the workplace, they are expected to carry out their work with the same attention and quality as always, especially during this global era.
Another common case also in World Cup times is that employees get distracted, either by talking about the matches or exchanging postcards from the albums, while likewise, this type of act is not allowed during the working day.
Now, now that we know the rules to avoid yellow or red cards, it is prudent to mention that employers, as well as referees, could use an organizational “VAR” and thus review their guidelines internally, to determine possible different decisions. and allow permits to view the matches or generate internal activities related to the World Cup, in order to encourage working people with this type of business decisions, just as the ticos and ticos were encouraged when the referee used that tool that He disallowed New Zealand’s goal and gave us the chance to attend the World Cup.
Thus, do not allow them to take yellow or red cards and it is worth considering the organizational “VAR” when necessary from a work perspective.
Through the session of October 30, 2022, the Plenary of the National Assembly approved the Organic Law Project for the Development, Regulation and Control of Technological Financial Services (hereinafter “ Fintech Law “).
Fintech Law reforms the Organic Monetary and Financial Code, the Organic Law of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Organic Code of the Social Knowledge Economy.
II. Fintech Law.-
Object and purpose of the Fintech Law: regulate Fintech activities carried out based on technology related to the financial, securities and insurance markets, with the aim of promoting innovation and the development of new technologies to improve financial inclusion.
Fintech Activities: the law will apply to the development, provision, use and offer of Fintech activities, understood as: (i) means of payment focused on technology; (ii) technological financial services; (iii) specialized electronic deposit and payment companies; (iv) technology services for the stock market; and, (v) technological insurance services.
Requirements to carry out Fintech activities: (i) be constituted as public limited companies and be authorized by the corresponding control bodies; and, (ii) count as a specific and exclusive corporate purpose the performance of Fintech activities.
Means of payment : the Fintech Law adds among the means of payment to electronic wallets with the category of fully digital banking and other means of payment focused on technology; and, provides that the electronic means of payment will be operated by the entities of the national financial system and the qualified agents of the auxiliary payment system.
Financial System: Two categories are added to the entities of the private financial system: (a) technological financial services, which are entities that can carry out financial activities focused on technology such as: (i) digital credit granting, (ii) neobanks, ( iii) personal finance and financial advice; and, (b) specialized electronic deposit and payment companies.
Stock Market: Added to the technological services entities for the stock market, which are those that develop activities focused on technology such as: (i ) Auxiliary transaction systems; (ii) Infrastructure for the stock market; (iii) collective financing or digital crowdfunding; (iv) blockchain; and, (v) others determined by the Monetary and Financial Policy Board.
Insurance System: Insurance technology service entities are added as a member of the private insurance system, whose activities may be: (i) alternative transaction systems; (ii) infrastructure for the insurance system; (iii) blockchain; and, (iv) others determined by the Monetary and Financial Policy Board.
The Fintech Law prohibits private financial entities from participating in the capital of Fintech companies.
Regulatory test environment ( Sandbox ): a regulatory test environment is implemented (Sandbox) is implemented for new business models related to technological services for the financial system, the stock market, and the insurance system that are not yet regulated.
The Superintendency of Banks and the Superintendency of Companies, Securities and Insurance will be empowered to create regulatory test environments.
III. Other relevant provisions.-
The validity of all credit titles issued with electronic support is recognized as long as they comply with the provisions of the Commercial Code and the Electronic Commerce Law, Signatures and Data Messages.
Finally, the Fintech Law establishes that reserved and confidential data classified in this way for security reasons must be hosted in Ecuadorian territory.
The Federal Economic Competition Commission (“COFECE”), published on November 23, 2022, the initiation of the investigation with file number IEBC-004-2022, for possible barriers to competition and essential inputs in the distribution and commercialization of corn, as well as the production, distribution and commercialization of corn flour and related services in the national territory.
Regarding this investigation, COFECE explained that this market is particularly important because corn and corn flour are necessary inputs for the production of tortillas, which form an essential part of the daily diet of Mexicans, since around 98.6% of the population consumes it and it is included in the basic basket.
In accordance with the Federal Economic Competition Law, once the investigation is concluded and sufficient elements are found to determine the existence of barriers to competition and free competition, COFECE may: (i) order the removal of barriers that unduly affect the process of competition and in case of non-compliance, impose a sanction of up to 10% of the income of the economic agent, (ii) issue recommendations to public authorities, (iii) determine the existence of essential inputs and, where appropriate, issue guidelines for its regulation, and (iv) order the disincorporation of assets, rights, social interests or shares.
In this investigation, COFECE may request information in writing, carry out verification visits, as well as summon economic agents that participate in or are related to said market to testify.
In 2019, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources decreed a 3-year extension to the period for regularization of environmental instruments in Guatemala contained in Government Agreement 237-2016. Thus, existing projects have until December 16, 2022 to request their respective environmental license, under penalty of a fine ranging from Q5,000 to Q100,000.
The environmental instrument is a technical document that establishes the environmental impacts or risks and the actions that will be carried out to mitigate those damages; Said instrument is approved through an environmental license. The obligation to have an environmental instrument exists since 1986 according to article 8 of the Law for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment (Decree 68-86).
In 2016, the Environmental Control and Monitoring Regulation -RECSA-, Government Agreement 137-2016, was issued, setting a two-year term for companies to regularize by presenting their environmental instrument.
Due to the large number of interested parties who decided to regularize their situation, on December 24, 2019, the reform to RECSA was published in the Diario de Centroamérica and established two important modifications:
A term of 3 more years (expiring on December 16, 2022) was set for the process of regularization of environmental instruments, with the imposition of a fine of Q. 5,000.00 regardless of the category of the project.
The obligation to present a bond or better known as surety insurance, which was a requirement to obtain an environmental license, was eliminated.
Let us remember that the purpose of all of the above implies being in compliance with local legislation, guaranteeing the protection of our environment and seeking to mitigate the damage that we produce.
Recently, the Perú Libre Parliamentary Group presented Bill No. 3251/2022-CR, whose purpose is to regulate the responsibility of companies in the Financial System, with respect to computer fraud committed against users of this system in the face of active and fraudulent liabilities, establishing the actions that must be taken and determining the times for the resolution of the cases.
The purpose of said bill is to protect and guarantee active and passive operations carried out by users of the financial system, reducing economic damage and safeguarding good credit reputation.
Among the measures contemplated in the proposed standard, the obligation is prescribed for companies in the financial sector to return the amounts and/or cancel unauthorized operations reported by their users, in any case and no later than the business day following reported the incident. If the company has reasonable grounds to doubt the veracity of the report, it must inform the user and the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFPs in writing, within the same term, attaching the evidence that supports its position, and it is the responsibility of the company to demonstrate that for said operation, all the verification mechanisms were activated that demonstrate that said operation was correctly registered.
The recently approved Fintec Law creates the Open Finance System (SFA), whose objective is to promote competition, innovation and inclusion in the financial system, facilitating the exchange of information between different service providers in this field.
This will occur through remote and automated access interfaces–known as application programming interfaces or “APIs”—, which will enable direct interconnection and communication between said providers without the need for a contractual relationship that binds them.
The SFA will function under the supervision and oversight of the Commission for the Financial Market (CMF) . It will correspond to it to dictate the regulation and instructions necessary for its adequate implementation and operation, as well as to supervise the fulfillment of the obligations of its participating institutions.
Below, we describe the main aspects of the operation of the OSS, including the information it will contain, the institutions that will participate in it and their roles, and the main deadlines established by law.
What kind of information will be exchanged?
The Fintec Law establishes a non-exhaustive list of information that must be exchanged through the SFA:
Information on general terms and conditions of financial products and services, and on customer service channels.
Identification information and registration of clients of financial products and services and their representatives.
Information on the commercial conditions contracted and the history of transactions of clients of financial products and services, such as checking, sight, provision of funds and savings accounts, credit cards, insurance policies, savings or investment instruments and operation services cards and similar means of payment.
Communications between financial providers for purposes of financial portability.
Data or information necessary for the provision of payment initiation services.
Other data or information related to financial products or services or initiation of other types of transactions that the CMF may define through a general rule.
While the information in points (i) and (iv) must be available in open data formats, that in points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) may only be shared to the extent that the respective clients have previously authorized it.
2. What type of institutions will participate?
The Fintec Law defines 4 categories of participating institutions:
Information Provider Institutions – are those that generate the information that will be available through the OSS, so their participation is mandatory. This category includes, among other institutions, banks, issuers and operators of cards or other means of payment authorized by the CMF, savings and credit cooperatives, insurance companies, general fund managers, stock brokers and compensation funds.
Information-Based Service Provider Institutions – are those that may consult, access and receive data from the Information Provider Institutions through the OSS. Although their participation is voluntary, as a general rule they must register in advance in a special registry in charge of the CMF. As an exception, duly authorized Information Provider Institutions and Financial Service Providers will not require new registration, but they will be subject to compliance with the same requirements applicable to entities whose participation is voluntary.
Payment Initiation Service Providers – are those that provide services to clients holding checking, sight or fund accounts, consisting of the instruction (on behalf of these clients and before Account Provider Institutions) to execute payment orders or transfers electronic funds charged to their respective accounts and means of payment. To operate legally, these entities must be registered in a special registry in charge of the CMF.
Account Provider Institutions – are the banks and financial institutions that provide checking, sight or fund accounts. Although they already qualify as Information Provider Institutions, the Fintec Law has specifically defined them to regulate their relationship with Payment Initiation Service Providers within the framework of the SFA. Their participation in the latter is therefore mandatory.
Diagram No. 1. Roles of the institutions participating in the OSS.
3. Will there be charges associated with its operation?
Information Provider Institutions may not charge Information-based Service Providers for the communication of customer data information requested through the SFA APIs. This, with the exception of the reimbursement of the direct incremental costs that must be incurred to meet the number of requests over the thresholds that the CMF must define based on public, objective, equitable and non-discriminatory conditions among the participating institutions.
The aforementioned requests for information may not give rise to the collection of commissions or additional charges to clients.
4. When will you start operating?
The CMF must issue the necessary regulations for the gradual implementation of the OSS within a period of 18 months from the publication of the Fintec Law in the Official Gazette. This regulation will be subject to prior public consultation procedures, regulatory impact assessment and reports from the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office.
Although the process will be gradual, the Fintec Law has also established certain maximum deadlines to complete the implementation. Counted from the entry into force of the regulations issued by the CMF, there will be 12 months for the registration of the entities that on the date of entry into force of the Fintec Law are providing Payment Initiation Services; 18 months for the full operation of the OSS in banks, card issuers and Payment Initiation Service Providers; and 36 months for full operation in the other participating institutions.
Diagram No. 2. Main terms of the SFA.
The SFA means a relevant step for the country on the path of open finance , so it is foreseeable that its operation will entail significant challenges for the participating institutions. Do not hesitate to contact us if you want to know more about the Fintec Law or its related topics.
For more information contact:
Natalia Gonzalez | Associate Group az Tech | ngonzalez@az.cl
