The relevant legislation in Colombia is composed of laws issued by the Congress of Colombia (either “framework” laws, or laws addressing specific matters), secondary legislation produced by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit issued as presidential decrees, and resolutions and circulars of the SFC. Decrees issued as secondary legislation by the president are hierarchically below the laws produced by Congress. They thus are meant to implement such laws, without exceeding the scope and boundaries of such laws. In turn, the secondary legislation produced by the SFC implements in detail the rules set forth by presidential decrees without exceeding the limits provided by such decrees. SFC regulation may address general or specific matters.

The following is a list of the main statutes:

1. Law 45/1990 – This law contains general rules and requirements applicable to regulated entities (such as banks, finance corporations, financing companies, finance lease companies, insurers and insurance intermediaries).
2. Decree 663/1993 – While formally a decree, it has the authority of legislation approved by Congress. This decree is of paramount importance as it contains the Financial Systems Organic Statute (EOSF), which, among other matters: (i) sets forth the general structure of the Colombian intermediated financial system; (ii) describes the activities authorized to be carried on by regulated entities; (iii) sets forth in detail the creation, authorization, operation and liquidation of regulated entities; and (iv) sets forth in detail the powers of the SFC. This decree has been amended a number of times since its inception.
3. Law 526/1999 – Creates the Financial Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF) which aims to prevent and detect operations that can be used as an instrument for concealing, managing, investing or leveraging any form of money or other assets arising from or for financing criminal activities, or to give appearance of legality to criminal activities or to transactions and funds associated with them.
4. Law 546/1999 – This law sets forth the rules on residential mortgage lending.
5. Law 964/2005 – This is the framework law of the public securities market.
6. Law 1328/2009 – This law amends Decree 663/1993 and sets forth rules on financial consumer protection.

In order to implement these laws, the government has issued the following secondary legislation (either directly or through the SFC):

1. Decree 2555/2010—This consolidates secondary legislation applicable to financial intermediaries, insurance and, importantly, securities markets in a single document.
2. SFCs Basic Legal Circular – This contains detailed rules and guidance.

While the above statutes and and secondary legislation are applicable primarily to Colombian-regulated institutions, they are also relevant in certain respects to non-Colombian entities, particularly concerning the promotion of financial/capital-markets products (as further discussed in Section 3).