On April 20th, 2023, President Gabriel Boric announced the guidelines of the National Lithium Strategy, through which the Government seeks to promote the lithium exploitation by the Chilean State (by means of State-owned companies or in association with private entities), to generate value-added lithium products and investment in technology and research ...
On April 18, 2023, the Financial Market Commission ("FMC") opened a public consultation process regarding the complementary activities that may be developed by bank or non-bank payment card operators ("Regulatory Proposal"), given the incorporation of new participants into the payments system, as a consequence of the implementation of the four-party model ...
On April 19th 2023, Law No. 21.553 which regulates paid passenger transportation applications and the services provided through them was published in the Official Gazette. The Law includes important provisions regarding the protection of consumers of passenger transportation services, making the sphere of protection of Law No. 19.496 - Consumer Protection Act ("CPA”), applicable to the contracts entered by passengers with the platforms of transportation application companies ("TAC") ...
On April 24, 2023, the Chamber of Representatives received bulletin No. 15864-13, containing the bill that proposes the adjustment of the minimum monthly income (i.e. minimum salary), which immediately passed to the Labor and Social Security and the Finance Committees of said Chamber. Currently, the bill of law has an urgency status for immediate discussion ...
On April 26th, 2022, the Senate unanimously approved in particular (first constitutional procedure) the Bill that establishes a Framework Law on Cybersecurity and Critical Information Infrastructure. As a result, the legislative proposal passed to the second constitutional procedure waiting to be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies ...
On May 9, 2023, a new law was enacted, which aims to improve the prosecution of drug trafficking and organized crime, regulate the destination of assets seized in such offenses and strengthen rehabilitation and social reintegration institutions (the “New Law”). Among the main changes introduced by the New Law regarding the prosecution of drug trafficking are: (i) the increase of penalties for the offenses established in Law No ...
On May 7th, 2023, it was held the election of the members of the Constitutional Council, the body in charge of preparing the Proposal for a New Constitution based on a preliminary draft that is currently being prepared by the Expert Commission. According to the election results, the Constitutional Council will be composed of 51 members, politically distributed as follows: 23 elected members representing the Partido Republicano (right-wing political party) ...
The Financial Market Commission ("FMC") has announced a process of consulting roundtables for the implementation of Law No. 21.521, known as the "Fintech Law" (Fintech in Spanish). Last May 15, an informative webinar was held where the CMF informed about the general guidelines for the operation of the consulting roundtables that will address aspects of the implementation of the Fintech Law. The FMC authority to carry out this process comes from Article 20 of Law No ...
On May 15, 2023, the Chilean Congress approved the Bill that systematizes Economic Crimes and Attempts against the Environment (the "Bill"). Thus, the Bill was sent to the President of the Republic for its enactment into law, subject to the preventive control to be carried out by the Constitutional Court ...
On May 9th, 2023, Law No.21,565 of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity was published in the Official Gazette, which establishes a regime of protection and integral reparation for victims of femicide and femicide suicide and their families. The objective of this law is the creation and strengthening of effective and necessary actions by the State for the attention and integral reparation of the damage of the victims of femicide and femicide suicide ...
The latest reforms to Law No. 19,496 Consumer Protection Act, introduced mainly by the "Pro-Consumer" Law and the E-Commerce Regulation, will force companies to be more vigilant in the 2023 version of CyberDay. During the event, which will be held from May 29th to 31st, the National Consumer Service ("SERNAC") will be supervising that companies comply with their e-commerce obligations ...
On May 30, 2023, the Expert Commission concluded the vote on the preliminary draft of the New Constitution, sending it to the Constitutional Council for discussion. After having reached cross-party agreements on most of the proposed amendments to the first draft, the Expert Commission approved in Plenary Session the text of the preliminary draft, which consists of 14 permanent Chapters, with their respective transitory provisions. The structure of the draft would be the following: Chapter I ...
The Ministry of Economy published the new proposal to update the Regulation on consumer information on mortgage loans (Decree No. 42 of 2012), which improves consumer understanding of financial information and promotes the comparison of products offered by financial institutions ...
On May 15, 2023, the Chilean Congress approved the Bill that Systematizes Economic Crimes and Attacks against the Environment (the "Bill"). Therefore, the Bill was sent to the President for its enactment into law, although it is subject to the preventive control that must be carried out by the Constitutional Court. During this period, the Executive has a deadline to exercise veto power over the bill prior to its enactment into law ...
On Monday, June 26, 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued the first two global sustainability standards: IFRS S1, General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, and IFRS S2, Climate-related Disclosures. These standards are intended to improve confidence in the sustainability disclosures made by companies to guide investment decisions ...
On June 14, 2023, the National Congress approved the bill that creates the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service and the National System of Protected Areas (the "Bill"). The purpose of the Bill is the conservation of biological diversity and the protection of the national natural heritage through the preservation, restoration and sustainable use of genes, species, and ecosystems ...
On September 17, 2022, Exempt Decree No. 63 of the Ministry of Health was published in the Official Gazette, approving Technical Standard No. 226 of the Ministry of Health, which set forth the obligation to implement a data registration system that allows the traceability of medical devices when they are received by institutional healthcare providers ...
On June 15, 2023, Law No. 21,577 (hereinafter, the "New Law") was enacted, which strengthens the prosecution of organized crime offenses, establishes special techniques for their investigation, and reinforces the confiscation of profits. The New Law modernizes the current criminal offenses related to organized crime and, at the same time, incorporates and improves the specialized techniques of investigation ...
On August 6th, 2021, Law No. 21,363 which establishes rules for the commercialization and advertising of alcoholic beverages, with the purpose of introducing amendments to Law No. 19,925 in matters related to labeling and advertising was published in the Official Gazette, pending the issuance of the regulations required in order to implement these amendments. On July 7, 2023, by means of Decree No. 98 of 2023, the regulations required by Law No ...
The National Consumer Service ("SERNAC") initiated a citizen consultation aimed at consumers to learn about their opinions on how protected they feel in consumer matters and how they perceive the current role and powers of the Service. In order to gather the opinion’s of the citizens, a form with 12 questions will be available on its website until July 23 ...
On July 13, 2023, Law No. 21,586 was enacted. This law amends Law No. 21,435 to extend the term to fulfill certain requirements set forth therein, and also amends the Water Code to introduce an administrative procedure to clarify and complete titles of water rights (“WR”). Amendments to Law No ...
The Central Bank of Chile submitted to public consultation amendments to Chapters III.J.1.3 and III.J.2 of the Compendium of Financial Regulations of the Central Bank of Chile about issuance of payment cards with provision of funds and operation of payment cards, respectively. The aforementioned, with the purpose of adapting such regulation to new business models and promote the development of an efficient, safe, and inclusive payment means market ...