REGIME APPLICABLE TO THE COMMERCIAL CREDITS GRANTED BY BANK INSTITUTIONS
The Venezuelan Central Bank (VCB) issued Resolution No. 19-09-01, which was published in Official Gazette No. 41.742 of 10-21-2019 and entered into force on the second business day following its publication. Said Resolution established that upon the entry into force of the same, the commercial credits in national currency granted by bank institutions will be expressed solely in the Commercial Credit Value Unit (Unidad de Valor de Crédito Comercial -UVCC). The following are excluded from the application of the Resolution. (i) credit transactions related to credit cards, (ii) microcredits, (iii) payroll credits granted to natural persons, (iv) loans to employees and directors of bank entities, and (v) financing regulated by special laws.
The UVCC created by the Resolution is the result of dividing the amount in Bolivars of the credit granted by the Investment Index in effect on said date, as determined by the VCB taking into account the variation of the market-based reference rate of exchange daily published in its web page.
The commercial credit agreements under the UVCC must include the following in their clauses:
(i) that the payment of any installment must contain both the amount of interest and the principal amortization portion expressed in UVCC;
(ii) the possibility, at debtor’s discretion, of paying in advance the loan granted, at any time, without payment of any penalty; if the Investment Index of the date of advanced payment of the loan is lower than the Investment Index of the date when the loan is granted, the latter will be used;
(iii) detailed explanation of the procedure to be used by the bank institution for expressing the loan in UVCC and for the subsequent valuation or payment of the credit, in the terms prescribed in the Resolution and other applicable rules;
(iv) a declaration by debtor to the effect that he/it understands and accepts the terms and conditions of the obligation undertaken in UVCC.
The interest rate applicable to the commercial credits under the UVCC method has been fixed by the VCB at a minimum of 4% and a maximum of 6% per annum. The default interest rate of the commercial credits under the UVCC has been determined at a maximum of 0.50% per annum in addition to the interest rate agreed in the transaction.
For purposes of the accounting valuation and amortization or advanced payment of the commercial credit under the UVCC, the balance of the loan at a specific date will be the one resulting from multiplying the debtor position in UVCC by the Investment Index on said date.
The commercial credits granted prior to this Resolution will keep the same conditions agreed until full payment of the same, except that the maximum annual interest rate to be charged will be 36% and not the rate fixed according to VCB’s Resolution No. 19-01-06 of 01-30-2019 (the rate periodically fixed by the VCB for discount, rediscount, repo, and advance transactions minus 5 percentage points).
The Resolution became effective on the second business day following its publication in the Official Gazette.
In order to access the Resolution, please click here.
Should you have any question or comment or require further information, please contact the partner in charge of your account via email.