The Congress of the Republic of Colombia published Law No. 2177 of December 30, 2021, by means of which Laws are issued to guarantee the access of all the actors of the Colombian mining sector to the products and services of the national financial and insurance system (the "Law"). 

Titleholders, authorized mining exploiters, mineral traders, processing plants, special service providers, miners in the process of formalization and legalization and other actors involved in the supply chain will be beneficiaries of the Law, subject to the adoption and implementation of risk management measures aimed at establishing standards of transparency in information, regulatory compliance, prevention of money laundering and professional ethical practices.

On the other hand, the entities supervised by the Financial Superintendency of Colombia will provide the products and services offered to these actors once compliance with the implementation of these risk measures has been verified. Likewise, together with the Financial Superintendence of Colombia, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the mining authority, those entities must carry out accompaniment and financial training processes that will allow the mining sector to know the benefits to which they will have access through this Law. 

The Law also sets forth that financial and insurance entities may not establish entry barriers to the actors of the mining sector that demand the provision of such products and services, but, as an entry condition, these actors must comply with the minimum requirements described above. The inadmissibility or rejection of the bankarization request by the financial entities will entitle the interested party to request the denied service or product to Banco Agrario.

To learn more about the Law, please click here