On July 5, 2021, General Rule No. 456 (hereinafter, the “NCG”) was published, through which the Financial Market Commission (hereinafter “CMF”) issued instructions to regulate the form of collaboration of anonymous informants (the “Anonymous Informant”) in the investigations carried out by the CMF, the admissibility of applications to obtain the status of Anonymous Informant, and the parameters to determine the percentage of the fine that will correspond to the informant.

Application for Anonymous Informant status

Regarding the request to obtain the status of Anonymous Informant, it is established that whoever provides the Investigation Unit of the CMF with background information for the detection, verification or accreditation of infractions that are within the competence of the CMF, or of participation in such infractions, may request their intention to be treated as Anonymous Informant to avail themselves of the provisions of Title VII of D.L. N°3.538.

The request must be submitted through the electronic form available on the CMF’s website by whomever wishes to obtain the status of Anonymous Informant. The application must include the identification and contact information of the person submitting the application and the information to be provided, including the points mentioned in the NCG.

From the date of the request, the identity of the person making the complaint will be secret, as well as any background information that may identify him/her, regardless of whether or not he/she is granted the status of Anonymous Informant.

Conditions to obtain the Anonymous Informant status

Regarding the conditions to obtain the status of Anonymous Informant, according to the NCG, the information provided by the Anonymous Informant to the CMF’s Investigation Unit must be substantial, accurate, truthful, verifiable and unknown.

Along with this, it is instructed that the information provided by the Anonymous Informant must refer to infractions that, due to their relevance, seriousness or entity, will be those that, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 23 and 24 of Decree Law No. 3.538, may lead to an investigation process and subsequent sanction by the CMF.

Once compliance with the established requirements has been verified, the Prosecutor of the Investigation Unit of the Commission, within a maximum period of 3 months from the filing of the application (extendable for the same period), will issue a resolution granting the status of Anonymous Informant to the applicant. The application shall not be admissible nor shall the person who has incurred in the sanctioned conducts, or has been a victim of such conducts, have the status of Anonymous Informant.

Percentage of fine that the Anonymous Informant will be entitled to receive.

The CMF Council will define in the sanctioning resolution the percentage of the fine that the Anonymous Informant will be entitled to receive for his/her collaboration. The amount may not be less than 10% of the fine applied, nor greater than the lesser of 30% of the fine applied and 25,000 Unidades de Fomento.  For the determination of such percentage, the CMF Board will take into account factors such as the relevance of the information provided, the timeliness of its presentation, the cooperation provided by the Anonymous Informant and the seriousness of the sanctioned conduct.

Validity

The provisions contained in the NCG will become effective as of July 19, 2021.

Should you require further information on this matter, please contact Alvaro Caviedes (acaviedes@jdf.cl) and / or Christian Schiessler (cschiesslerq@jdf.cl).