26 March, 2020
As part of our commitment to keep you informed and updated on legal issues and national interest, we inform you that on March 23, 2020, Legislative Decree 6-2020, which contains modifications to the Commercial Code, was published in the Official Gazette. in force, in which the use of the electronic check by the banks of the national system was approved.
It is established that the use of credit titles, as is the case of the check, makes it necessary for the regulation of these financial instruments in Guatemalan legislation to be adequate to the new techniques and modalities presented by modern financial systems, attached to the norms and international best practices; The modification to the Commercial Code focused on three specific articles.
Article 503 establishes the form of presentation in the clearinghouse of the banks, indicating that the presentation of a digitized check in the clearinghouse will have the same effects as the presentation of a physical check made directly to the drawn bank, with this Said clearing house seeks to avoid the risk of non-compliance of transactions.
In reference to article 511 on the protest, truncation and destruction of a check, it was established that the protest for non-payment must take place before the expiration of the term set for the presentation, the annotation that the bank places or has accompany the check physical or digitized check, if it was presented on time and not paid in whole or in part, it will have the effects of protest, which means that it will no longer have to be protested in a notarial manner, as was done to date, the indicated annotation being sufficient by the bank that acts as the protest.
Likewise, Article 511 Ter was added, on the truncation of checks, where it is established that this is the process through which the bank that receives a physical check for direct collection or for bank compensation, captures its image, thereby generating the digitized check. The copy of the digitized paid check issued by the bank, with the proof that it is a true copy, will have the same legal effects, validity, obligatory and probative force as physical checks.
Finally, Article 516 Bis was added, which establishes the destruction of physical checks that have been paid by the respective banks, that the banks will destroy the checks paid by them that have not been delivered to the respective account holders, prior to counting with digitized copies of paid checks, by banks.
The legislative decree will enter into force eight days after it is published in the official gazette, it is established, and it remains pending that the Executive Branch sanction it.
If any query arises or you want the information to be expanded, we remain at your service by email alopez@latinalliance.co.