Banque Centrale de Tunisie

HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF TUNISIA BCT

20 March 1956: Tunisia’s independence

19 September 1958: Enactment of law n° 58-90 creating and organizing the Central Bank of Tunisia.

18 October 1958: Enactment of law n° 58-109 bearing monetary reform. Instituting a new monetary unit: The Dinar

3 November 1958: The Central Bank of Tunisia began its activity, and the Tunisian Dinar was put into circulation.

30 December 1958: Disconnection of the Tunisian dinar from the French franc and withdrawal of the national money from the franc zone.

7 December 1967: Enactment of law n°67-51 bearing the legislation on the banking profession.

3 November 1988
Global reform of the organic texts of the Central Bank of Tunisia; law n°1988-119 of 3 November 1988:- Replacing the functions of the two deputy governors and the secretary general by one deputy governor assisting the governor;

• Further specifying the role of the BCT with a view to defending the value of the national currency and to watch over its stability;
• Prohibiting the BCT from the participation in the capital of resident companies and transferring with respect to the State all its participations in these companies.

7 February 1994
The legislation on the banking profession was modified by law n°94-25 of 7 February 1994, reinforcing the regulating and the supervision powers of the Central Bank of Tunisia:

• Regulating power
  The Central Bank of Tunisia is entitled expressly to set up the rules and principles of bookkeeping management and the prudential norms.
• Disclosing power
  The banks’ auditors must inform the Central Bank of Tunisia of their audit results and disclose any fact presenting a threat to the interests of the bank they audit or its depositors’ interests. The auditors must, also, hand over a report of activity to the Central Bank of Tunisia at the end of each fiscal year, as well as another report to the departments of the audited bank.
• Control power
  The control made by the Central Bank of Tunisia has been extended to bank subsidiaries, legal corporates who control them, as well as to subsidiaries of the latter.
• Injunction power
  The Central Bank of Tunisia has been endowed with an injunction power, preceded by a warning, so as to impose on any bank, when it appears warranted, to proceed mainly to:
  * An increase of its capital,
  * A ban on any distribution of dividends,
  * Formation of reserve.
• Intervention power
  The Governor has been entitled, if it appears warranted and in view of protecting the depositors’, third parties’ and the banking system’s interests, to take the following decisions: * Invite bank’s shareholders to provide the bank with the necessary support,
  * Organize the contribution of all banks,
  * Appoint a temporary administrator.

4 April 2000 Law n°2000-37 of 4 April 2000

• Extending the Issuing Institution´s range of activity by allowing it to take in pawn from banks any negotiable public bills as well as any claims or securities held on companies or private individuals figuring in a list fixed by the Executive Board;
• Authorising the Central Bank to buy shares in companies dealing in common banking services management.

10 July 2001 Law n°2001-65
New framework for the banking system:

• The law confirms the notion of lending institutions as including banks and financial institutions and does away with the old distinction between deposit and investment banks to establish the universal bank;
• Setting up a system to guarantee deposits in the form of a joint mechanism in which banks must participate;
• Defining the prerogatives of the internal audit permanent committee which lending institutions must set up in compliance with the provisions of law n°94-25.

May 2006
Amendment of the organic law dealing with the creation of the Central Bank of Tunisia.

Law n°2006-26 of 15 May 2006:

• Redefining prerogatives of the Issuing Institution, the main assignment of which is henceforth ensuring price stability;
• Reinforcing transparency policy;
• Reinforcing the Central Bank of Tunisia’s independence;
• Strengthening control and audit operations.

Amendment of the 2001 banking law; law 2006-19 of 2 May 2006:

• More flexible conditions of access to banking activity;
• Reinforcing financial soundness of lending institutions;
• Boosting rules of good governance.

27 December 2007
Modification of article 34 of law n°58-90 of 19 September 1958 providing for the creation and organisation of the Central Bank by articles 19 and 20 of law n°2007-69 of 27 December 2007 dealing with economic initiative:

• In the framework of improving the quality of information recorded by the risk base and the file of loans to private individuals, the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) was entitled to ask claim collection companies to provide it with any statistic and information that the BCT considers relevant to know about the credit evolution and the economic situation, and the same holds true for the lending institutions;
• The BCT fixes technical data that must be respected by all companies when transmitting information to the file of non-professional loans and when consulting it;
• The BCT allows beneficiaries of professional and non-professional loans and of payment facilities to refer to relevant data.