In a sign of the fight against transnational bribery and corruption, on October 2, the Superintendence of Companies issued Resolution 100-006261 which repealed Resolutions No. 100-002657 of July 25, 2016 and 200- 000558 of July 19, 2018 and modified the threshold required to determine which companies should adopt corporate transparency and ethic programs.
The new requirements now encompass more companies by leaving as criteria the fact of having carried out transactions with natural or legal persons during the previous year greater than 100 Minimum Current Legal Monthly Wages (MCLMW) and have incomes or total assets equal to or greater than 40,000 MCLMW.
This Resolution will come into effect on January 1, 2021, and companies that meet the criteria established therein as of December 31, 2020, will have until April 30, 2021 to implement a corporate transparency and ethics program under the guidelines of the Circular 100-000003 of June 26, 2016, which proposes that said program should provide guidelines on:
- The identification and assessment of risks related to transnational bribery
- General procedures to carry out Due Diligence and compliance audit processes
- Gifts to third parties
- Remuneration and payment of commissions to employees and contractors regarding international business or transactions
- The expenses of the company related to entertainment, food, lodging and travel activities.
- Political contributions
- Donations
- The procedures for filing and preserving documents related to international business or transactions in which the company is involved.
- The policy of the company in terms of due diligence aimed to identify liabilities and contingencies related to possible acts of transnational bribery, especially in the context of M&As, purchase of assets, securities, participations or any other corporate restructuring procedure, in which the company acts as acquirer.
