Colombia SFC issues Circular 007 after quake

Colombia’s Financial Superintendence issued External Circular 007 on Aug. 26, 2026, to reduce the impact of the disaster on affected financial consumers. The instruction applies to all supervised entities and falls within the agency’s prudential oversight and consumer protection duties.

What does External Circular 007 require?

The circular requires credit institutions to clearly and visibly post the requirements, validity periods, scope and effects of temporary relief programs on their websites, at physical branches and in mobile apps. It also sets limits on restructuring affected loans, since the new repayment term cannot exceed twice the original remaining term or 20 years, according to El Colombiano.

As part of the operational response to the disaster, financial institutions must also set up dedicated channels and service points for complaints and claims from affected customers, preferably in person in the impacted areas. The Superintendence also reinforced expedited service through Letter Circular 54 of 2026, reminding supervised entities of their obligation to apply the Quejas Exprés procedure.

How does this fit into the new oversight agenda?

The regulatory package comes as Pablo Andrés Rivas Herazo arrives at the Financial Superintendence, after being sworn in on Aug. 26, 2026 by the minister of finance and public credit. The agency said its oversight agenda includes emerging risk management, cyberresilience, climate risk and the evaluation of new technologies for Colombia’s financial system.

The leadership transition was also formalized through Decree 1292 of 2026, which accepted the resignation of César Attilio Ferrari Quine and appointed Rivas Herazo to the post. At the same time, the Superintendence published the Abecé del seguro, Terremoto 2026, as a public guide on insurance policies and claims processing.

What is happening in the digital financial ecosystem?

The regulatory debate in Colombia was also shaped by pressure on fintech firms and by bank investment in cybersecurity. At the 60th Asobancaria Banking Convention, the sector’s spending on digital transformation, innovation and cybersecurity was reported to have increased 9 percent, from 3.3 trillion pesos in 2024 to 3.6 trillion in 2025, with a focus on technology platforms and specialized outsourced services.

At that same event, Indra Group presented an AI-based strategy to anticipate and manage financial fraud and strengthen the security of payment infrastructure. The company also warned about rising digital fraud in Colombian banking and proposed a 360-degree model that cross-references security and fraud data to detect links between events that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Outside the Financial Superintendence’s scope, specialists cited in an analysis of financial regulations said Superintendence of Industry and Commerce Circular 001 of 2025 strengthened personal data protection rules for the fintech sector. According to that analysis, companies must obtain separate consent depending on how data will be used, apply stricter safeguards to biometric information and explain any automated decision to the user.

That same material said fintechs supervised by the Financial Superintendence are subject to the Financial Consumer Statute, while those that are not supervised follow the general Consumer Statute under SIC oversight, creating two protection regimes in the digital ecosystem. Sector analysts cited in another republished special added that gaps remain in the ability to audit AI systems that process personal data and in the effective supervision of automated decisions.

In the context of the earthquake emergency, the SIC also banned unjustified price increases and misleading advertising that tries to profit from the situation. That decision indirectly affects financial service providers and fintechs offering products tied to crisis response.