COLOMBIA: Santos Signs Act To Regulate Financial Conglomerates Activities

(RTTNews) - Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos has signed the financial conglomerates act, which aims at the strengthening of regulation and supervision of conglomerates or financial groups operating in the South American country.

According to the Colombian Minister of Finance, Mauricio Cardenas, the new act requires that "all conglomerates or financial groups manage a sufficient level of capital to support the risks of their activity. Additionally, it provides the monitoring and empowers the regulatory entity to reorganize these conglomerates, authorize their investments and even revoke operating licenses."

Colombian officials believe that the act will provide to the clients of banks and financial institutions greater guarantee on their resources.

Cárdenas stressed that the act is in line with recommendations from several international bodies, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).