History of the Financial Market Commission

The Financial Market Commission is the regulator and supervisor of the Chilean financial market, and supervises over 70% of the regulated financial assets in our country.

It began its activities on December 14, 2017 after the enactment of Law 21,000, which transformed it into the legal successor to the Superintendence of Securities and Insurance, which in turn was the legal successor of the former Superintendence of Insurance Companies, Corporations, and Stock Exchanges.

Likewise, as of June 1, 2019, it is the legal successor of the Superintendence of Banks and Financial Institutions per Law No. 21,130 that modernizes banking legislation, which established its integration into this Commission.

The Financial Market Commission now integrates the institutions that have fulfilled the supervisory and regulatory roles of the securities, insurance, banking and financial institutions markets since the mid-19th century.

Statutory Background

In 1865, article 436 of the Code of Commerce established the supervision of corporations by stating that "the President of the Republic may appoint a commissioner to oversee the operations of the managers and account for the non-execution or infringement of the statutes."

Twenty years later, in 1885, the government of President Domingo Santa María created the position of Banking Commissioner and thus the supervision of banks in Chile formally began.

In 1904, Law No. 1,712 regulated the operation of insurance companies, which were subject to the designation of "inspectors of tax offices to oversee the operations, books, and accounts of national companies and agencies of foreign companies."

In 1924, DL No. 93 established that stock exchange operations would be regulated, and created the position of an Inspector in Santiago and another in Valparaíso. In the same year, DL No. 158 supplemented the legal regime for corporations regarding the responsibility of the organizers who invited the public to subscribe shares, and that of the technical experts who informed them; and created the Inspectorate of Corporations so that "the public oversight referred to in article 436 of the Code of Commerce is permanently exercised."

In 1925, the enactment of the General Banking Act created the Superintendence of Banks. This law was born out of a project presented to the government of Arturo Alessandri Palma by the Kemmerer Mission, which was hired by the government to restructure the Chilean monetary and financial system, and was chaired by Edwin Walter Kemmerer, a professor of Economics at Princeton University. Other projects originated from this Mission were the monetary law, to stabilize the value of the currency and establish the gold standard as the basis of the country's monetary unit; the creation of the Central Bank of Chile; and the National Budget Law.

In 1927, Law No. 4,228 created the Superintendence of Insurance Companies, and in 1928, Law No. 4,404 founded the General Inspectorate of Corporations and Stock Market Operations.

In 1931, the Decree with Force of Law No. 251 merged both agencies under the name of Superintendence of Corporations, Insurance Companies, and Stock Exchanges, and subsequently, DL No. 3,538 of December 23, 1980 established the definitive creation of the Superintendence of Securities and Insurance, legal successor of the Superintendence founded in 1931.

Law No. 21,000, which created the new Financial Market Commission, was published on February 23, 2017. On June 1, 2019, the Commission integrated the Superintendence of Banks and Financial Institutions, following the publication of Law No. 21,130, which modernizes banking legislation, on January 12, 2019.