DECREE No. 376/2009 Coll., on bureau-de-change activity

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1 DECREE No. 376/2009 Coll., of 23 October 2009 on bureau-de-change activity Pursuant to Article 30a (a) to (c) of Act No. 219/1995 Coll., the Foreign Exchange Act, as amended by Act No. 254/2008 Coll. and Act No. 285/2009 Coll. (hereinafter referred to as the Act ), the Czech National Bank stipulates the following: Article 1 Subject This Decree stipulates a) specimen application forms for registration for bureau-de-change activity and the content of their annexes, b) the manner of informing customers by foreign exchange entities authorised to carry on bureau-de-change activity, c) the scope, period, manner, time limits and structure of the information reported on the amount of cash foreign currency purchases and sales. Article 2 Definitions For the purposes of this Decree: a) a business licence certificate shall mean a complete extract, or other document, from the Register of Entrepreneurs or other register pursuant to another legal rule 1, or from similar registers abroad, containing information valid at the time of submission of the application, including information on any proposal for entry into a relevant register submitted but not effected as of the date of submission of the application, b) a certificate of integrity shall mean a document analogous to an extract from the Criminal Register not more than three months old issued by the state of which the natural person is a citizen as well as by any state in which the said person resided for an unbroken period of more than six months during the last three years. Article 3 Application of a natural person for registration for bureau-de-change activity (1) In the case of a natural person, the applicant for registration for bureau-de-change activity shall submit the application on a form, the specimen of which is given in Annex 1 hereto. 1 For example Act No. 513/1991 Coll., the Commercial Code, as amended; Act No. 455/1991 Coll., on Trade and Entrepreneurial Activities (the Trades Licensing Act), as amended; Act No. 15/1998 Coll., on Supervision in the Capital Market Area and on the Amendment of Other Acts, as amended; Act No. 85/1996 Coll., on Advocacy, as amended; Act No. 252/1997 Coll., on Agriculture, as amended; Act No. 83/1990 Coll., on Association of Citizens, as amended; Act No. 227/1997 Coll., on Charities and Charitable Funds and on the Amendment of Certain Related Acts (Act on Charities and Charitable Funds), as amended. 1

2 (2) The applicant shall attach the following annexes to the application referred to in paragraph 1: a) the original of the certificate of integrity of the applicant, the real owner 2 and the person who is to manage the applicant s business, b) documents proving that the person who is to manage the applicant s business has the necessary qualifications pursuant to Article 3d(2) of the Act, c) the declarations given in Annex 2 hereto for the applicant, the real owner 2 and the person who is to manage the applicant s business. Article 4 Application of a legal person for registration for bureau-de-change activity (1) In the case of a legal person, the applicant for registration for bureau-de-change activity shall submit the application on a form, the specimen of which is given in Annex 3 hereto. (2) The applicant shall attach the following annexes to the application referred to in paragraph 1: a) the business licence certificate, b) the original of the certificate of integrity of the person that is a partner of the applicant, a statutory body of the applicant, a member of the statutory body of the applicant, the real owner 2 and the person who is to manage the applicant s business, and, if the partner is a legal person, also such a certificate for the person of the statutory body of the applicant s partner or a member of the statutory body of the applicant s partner, c) documents proving that the person who is to manage the applicant s business has the necessary qualifications pursuant to Article 3d(2) of the Act, d) the declarations given in Annex 2 hereto for a partner of the applicant, a statutory body of the applicant, a member of the statutory body of the applicant, the real owner 2 and the person who is to manage the applicant s business, and, if the partner is a legal person, also such a declaration for the person of the statutory body of the applicant s partner or a member of the statutory body of the applicant s partner, e) the questionnaire given in Annex 4 hereto. Article 5 Manner of informing customers by foreign exchange entities (1) A foreign exchange entity authorised to carry on bureau-de-change activity shall publish an exchange rate list, the prices of services provided, a list of services provided free of charge if it provides such services, and information on the customer s right to be issued with a document confirming service provision containing the information laid down in the Consumer Protection Act 3 and confirming the foreign exchange entity s obligation to satisfy the customer s request for such a document, together in one place, at least in Czech and English. Such information shall be published visibly in a place accessible to customers and in a manner ruling out any misunderstanding of the information provided and allowing customers to obtain this information before the service is provided. 2 Article 3(4) of Act No. 219/1995 Coll., as amended by Act No. 254/2008 Coll. 3 Article 16(1) of Act No. 634/1992 Coll., the Consumer Protection Act, as amended by Act No. 229/2006 Coll., Act No. 36/2008 Coll. and Act No. 227/2009 Coll. 2

3 (2) The price charged for a service provided may also be given as a percentage of the volume of the purchase or sale, as the case may be giving the lowest and highest price charged depending on the amount sold or bought, or giving the lowest charged price irrespective of the unit amount. (3) The exchange rates given in the exchange rate list, including the names of the currencies and the prices of the individual services together with the accompanying text, shall be expressed in uniform and sufficient size, with numerical data expressed in Arabic numerals. The text accompanying the exchange rates and the individual services shall be given at least in Czech and English. (4) When providing information about the exchange rates of selected currencies in the form of an advertisement, a foreign exchange entity authorised to carry on bureau-de-change activity shall distinguish whether the rate is for buying or selling. If the foreign exchange entity provides both purchases and sales of foreign currencies, it shall always state the information on the buy and sell rates of the currency together in accordance with the exchange rate list. When providing information in this way, the foreign exchange entity authorised to carry on bureaude-change activity shall see to it that customers are not misled, and in particular it shall give the currency names, exchange rates and prices of individual services in the advertisement in the manner laid down in paragraph 3. (5) The foreign exchange entity authorised to carry on bureau-de-change activity shall notify the customer in an appropriate manner prior to the final execution of the purchase or sale of foreign or Czech currency of information relating to the equivalent value of the currency purchased or sold. Article 6 Reporting duty of a registration holder (1) A holder of registration for bureau-de-change activity (hereinafter referred to as the registration holder ) shall report to the Czech National Bank once a quarter summary information on the amounts of foreign currencies in cash that it bought and sold in the calendar quarter as part of its registered activity and shall do so in total for all its premises. The registration holder shall report such information on the form given in Annex 5 hereto. (2) The registration holder shall send the filled-in form pursuant to Article 1 to the Czech National Bank no later than 15 days after the end of the reporting calendar quarter even if it performed no buying and selling of foreign currency in that quarter. The registration holder shall send the form to the Czech National Bank: a) in paper form furnished with the signature of a person authorised to act in the name of the registration holder, or b) in electronic form furnished with the secured electronic signature 4 of a person authorised to submit reports. (3) If the registration holder finds an error in a form it filled in and sent, it shall notify the Czech National Bank thereof without undue delay. 4 Article 2(b) of Act No. 227/2000 Coll., the Electronic Signature Act, as amended by Act No. 440/2004 Coll. 3

4 (4) If the registration holder is called on by the Czech National Bank to correct information given in a form sent to the Czech National Bank pursuant to paragraph 2, it shall correct the information and submit the form with the corrected information to the Czech National Bank without undue delay, but within 15 days of the date of delivery of the Czech National Bank s call. Article 7 Common provisions (1) The Czech National Bank shall publish the specimen forms stipulated in this Decree also in a manner allowing remote access. (2) If an application is submitted by an applicant through a representative, a power of attorney or other document proving the authorisation of this person to represent the applicant shall be attached to the application. The authorised person s signature must be officially authenticated. (3) An officially authenticated copy of the original document may be submitted instead of the original document. (4) If the nature of the matter rules out the submission of an annex to the application required by this Decree or the giving of information on a form, and if the reasons are not evident, the applicant shall justify the failure to submit the annex or to state the information on a form on a separate sheet of paper to the application and shall give appropriate evidence of the reasons. (5) A documentary annex to the application may be submitted in the original copy provided that it was issued by the public authority of: a) a Member State of the European Union or another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or b) a foreign state with which the Czech National Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding; the Czech National Bank shall publish a list of these authorities in a manner allowing remote access. Article 8 Transitional provision A foreign exchange entity which is authorised to carry on bureau-de-change activities as of the date of effect of this Decree shall bring the manner of informing customers into compliance with this Decree within four months from the date of effect of this Decree. Until the foreign exchange entity registered pursuant to the Act brings the manner of informing customers into compliance with this Decree, the said foreign exchange entity shall proceed in accordance with the existing legal rule. 5 Article 9 Repealing provision Decree No. 280/2008 Coll., on bureau-de-change activity, non-cash foreign currency transactions and money services is hereby repealed. 5 Article 3 of Decree No. 280/2008 Coll., on bureau-de-change activity, non-cash foreign currency transactions and money services. 4

5 Article 10 Effect This Decree shall take effect on the date of its promulgation. Governor: Zdeněk Tůma 5