Act 1748/2014 set out, among other matters, the requirement to provide transparent information to financial consumers, creating for this purpose Standardised Total Value (Valor Total Unificado: VTU), that enables these consumers to compare financial institutions’ products using uniform criteria. The government subsequently passed Decree 1854/ 2015 which provided the regulations for this law.

Against this backdrop, Colombia’s financial supervisor, the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC) has issued External Circular 023/2016, which provides regulated institutions with a series of specific guidelines about Standardised Total Value (VTU) on asset and liability transactions, as well as those relating to the Annual Total Costs Report (Reporte Annual de Costes Totales: RACT), with which to update and standardise the guidelines on the scope of application, the content and the manner of delivery of the RACT, and the package of basic services. These instructions incorporate the components that should be taken into account for calculating and reporting the Standardised Total Value of Asset Transactions (VTUA) and Standardised Total Value of Liability Transactions (VTUP), as well as on how to project the figures involved in calculating these same values.

These new instructions stipulate that the RACT must be issued by both the financial institutions and by the Specialist Electronic Deposits & Payments Companies [Sociedades Especializadas en Depósitos y Pagos Electrónicos:SEDPE], and should include the VTU in Asset and Liability transactions. In addition, the guidelines indicate that the RACT must be sent using the delivery system chosen by each financial consumer, and that the data base holding this choice should be accessible to the SFC.

The basic service package in the RACT will also have to be included in the portfolio of financial products offered to the public, so that financial consumers can compare the various portfolios available within the financial system.

Finally, credit institutions and SEDPEs may use their own models to make VTUA and VTUP projections, bearing in mind each product’s specific purpose, as well as the economic situation when these projections were made.