Text of the Official Translation

LAW

OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Adopted on 22 October 2008

ON CIRCULATION OF CREDIT INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES OF CREDIT BUREAUS

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. This Law shall regulate the procedure for and conditions of collecting, processing, building, storing and using credit information, the activities, licensing of credit bureaus, the procedure for and conditions of regulation and supervision over these activities, as well as other relations pertaining to credit information and activities of credit bureaus.

1. Activities of credit bureaus shall be regulated by the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, this Law, Law of the Republic of Armenia “On the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia”, other laws of the Republic of Armenia, international treaties of the Republic of Armenia, whereas in the cases and under the conditions provided for by law — regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter referred to as “the Central Bank”) and other legal acts.

2. The Law of the Republic of Armenia “On joint-stock companies” shall extend to credit bureaus, unless otherwise provided for by this Law.

1. The concepts used in this Law and other legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law shall have the following meaning:

(1) credit bureau — a joint-stock company entitled to carry out, on the basis of the licence issued as prescribed by this Law and regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank, activities for collecting credit information, other data necessary therefor, processing, building and storing credit histories, preparing credit reports based thereon;

(2) credit information entity — a natural or legal person whereon credit information is collected, credit history is processed, built and stored, or with regard whereto a request on credit history is made with the credit bureau;

(3) datum — any datum on facts, incidents, circumstances relating to the credit information entity in a form which enables or might enable to identify or characterise the credit information entity;

(4) database — a system with certain technical and electronic capacities where credit information and other data necessary for it are collected, and where credit histories are processed, built, and stored;

(5) credit history — the dynamics of the credit information built and (or) processed by the credit bureau;

(6) information providers — each entity of civil law which, pursuant to this Law, provides the credit bureau with credit information on the credit information entity;

(7) public database — a database established or administered by state and local self-government bodies.

CHAPTER 2

LICENSING OF AND SUPERVISION OVER THE ACTIVITIES OF CREDIT BUREAUS

1. The words characterising the activities of credit bureaus provided for by this Law or the translations thereof may be used in their names only by persons possessing a credit bureau licence, by the branches and representations thereof.

1. A company must obtain a credit bureau licence as prescribed by this Law and regulatory legal acts of the Board of the Central Bank for carrying out activities of a credit bureau.

2. For the purpose of credit bureau licensing, the company must meet the following requirements:

(1) it must be registered as a joint-stock company as prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia;

(2) the size of the statutory capital of the company must be at least two hundred million Armenian drams;

(3) commercial banks, credit organisations, insurance companies operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia or their affiliated persons may not, by virtue of the right to vote, hold more than 20 (twenty) per cent of voting stocks of the company.

Moreover, within the meaning of this Law, affiliated persons shall be deemed to be the persons declared as such within the meaning of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On banks and banking”;

(4) it must meet the territorial, technical, security and software requirements prescribed for a credit bureau by this Law and regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank;

(5) managers of the company must meet the requirements prescribed for managers of credit bureau by Article 10 of this Law.

3. For the purpose of undergoing credit bureau licensing a company shall submit the documents and information prescribed by regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank, which certify the requirements of this Law and regulatory legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law.

4. The Central Bank shall license the company within a period of 30 days upon receipt of the documents and information prescribed, where the process of licensing may be suspended upon the decision of the Central Bank for not more than 30 days in order to replenish the documents and information submitted incompletely within the time limit prescribed by the Central Bank, as well as to ascertain or to receive certain information or documents by the Central Bank.

Where the Central Bank renders no decision on rejecting the issuance of a licence or on issuing a licence within the prescribed time limit, the licence shall be deemed as granted, and the credit bureau — as licensed following the payment of the state duty.

5. The Central Bank shall reject the licensing of a credit bureau, where:

(1) the documents and information prescribed by regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank have not been submitted;

(2) the submitted documents or information are false, incomplete or contradict the laws of the Republic of Armenia and other legal acts;

(3) it has appeared, as a result of inspections conducted by the Central Bank, that the company does not meet the requirements to credit bureaus, founders (participants) thereof, managers of credit bureaus prescribed by this Law and regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank adopted on the basis of this Law.

Within the meaning of this part, documents and information shall be deemed as incomplete in case of not being submitted within the time limit established by the Central Bank as prescribed by part 4 of this Article.

(Article 5 amended by HO-133-N of 14 April 2011)

1. A credit bureau licence shall be issued for an unlimited time period.

2. A credit bureau licence may not be provided to other persons for use, alienated or pledged.

3. The unified form of credit bureau licence and the information contained therein shall be prescribed by regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank.

4. The Central Bank shall maintain the register of issued licences, which shall be open for general information.

5. The form, procedure for maintenance of the register for licences, as well as the list of information contained therein shall be prescribed by regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank.

6. The Central Bank shall publish the list of licensed credit bureaus, which shall include the name, place of activities of credit bureaus, the reference number of the licence granted by the Central Bank, the year, month and day of issuing the licence.

1. The right to exercise supervision over the activities of credit bureaus shall be vested in the Central Bank. The Central Bank shall exercise this supervision in the manner and under the conditions prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia”.

CHAPTER 3

CREDIT BUREAUS, CIRCULATION OF CREDIT INFORMATION AND USE OF CREDIT INFORMATION

1. The main objective of credit bureaus shall be to carry out activities for collecting credit information, data on credit information entities necessary therefor, those for processing, building and storing credit histories, and preparing credit reports on the basis thereof.

2. A credit bureau may also exercise the following additional functions:

(1) provide consultative services to clients pertaining to collecting, processing credit information, other data necessary therefor, building, storing and providing credit histories;

(2) provide other services as a result of processing the information available in the database;

(3) design and sell software tools for collecting, processing, storing and transferring credit information and other data.

3. The Central Bank may authorise credit bureaus to perform an activity or operation not directly provided for by this Law, where the performance thereof is related to their activities or derives from their activities.

4. A credit bureau may not carry out other activities not provided for by legal acts of the Central Bank, in the case prescribed by this Law and part 3 of this Article.

1. In case of opening a branch or representation in the territory of the Republic of Armenia or beyond the territory of the Republic of Armenia, a credit bureau shall be obliged to inform the Central Bank thereof within two weeks after opening it.

1. A manager of a credit bureau shall be deemed to be the chairperson the board of the credit bureau, his or her deputy, members of the board, executive director, his or her deputies, chief accountant, his or her deputies, head of the audit commission, members thereof, and members of the directorate of the credit bureau.

2. The following persons may not act in the capacity of a manager of a credit bureau:

(1) persons with previous criminal conviction for crimes committed intentionally;

(2) persons deprived, by the court, of the right to hold positions in the financial, tax, customs, commercial, economic, and legal sectors;

(3) persons declared as bankrupt and having outstanding (unremitted) liabilities;

(4) persons having previously committed an act which, in the opinion of the Central Bank substantiated by the guidelines approved by the Central Bank, gives rise to a suspicion that the given person may not, in the capacity of a manager of credit bureau, properly manage the relevant field of activities of the credit bureau, or his or her actions may lead to the bankruptcy, deterioration of the financial situation of the credit bureau or may undermine the reputation or business reputation thereof;

(5) in other cases prescribed by law.

1. Credit information shall be deemed to be the information on obligations assumed by the credit information entity, which shows the debts, payments, payment habits of the credit information entity or information on obligations of the latter or the fulfilment thereof.

2. The list of credit information provided to the credit bureau, as well as the list of other data necessary for preparing a complete credit report shall be prescribed by a contract concluded between the credit bureau and the information provider, whereas the minimum list of credit information provided to the credit bureau by banks, credit organisations and insurance companies, as well as other data necessary for preparing a complete credit report may be prescribed by regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank as well.

3. In order to prepare a complete credit report, the relevant responsible body of the credit bureau shall be obliged to provide data from public databases as well. The Government of the Republic of Armenia shall determine the list of public databases, as well as the types of data provided from these databases, the issue of reimbursement of costs, the procedure for and the conditions of provision of data, and the body responsible for the provision thereof.

4. In case of providing the information prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On civil status acts” to any credit bureau operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, the given credit bureau shall be obliged to provide this information, within two days upon the receipt thereof, to other credit bureaus operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia as well.

5. The credit bureau may not collect and provide data which relate to the health condition, race, religious affiliation, ancestors, ethnic origin, social status, political views, membership in other unions, and preferences of a person. The credit bureau may not collect data based on value judgements, as well as the data transferred to the credit bureau in verbal form.

6. The credit bureau must not include the following in the credit report:

(1) data, where the name and whereabouts (place of residence) of the information provider are not registered or are not stored in the database;

(2) credit information for a period of more than five years preceding the time of provision of credit report on the credit information entity.

(Article 11 amended by HO-133-N of 14 April 2011)

1. Credit bureaus may provide credit reports only to potential or actual creditors or clients of credit bureaus, the nature of activities whereof complies with the goals prescribed by part 2 of this Article, and wherewith contractual relations pertaining to the provision of credit information to and receiving credit reports from credit bureaus, on a continuous basis, have been established for receiving accurate credit information and providing credit reports, except for the cases prescribed by parts 1.1 and 3 of this Article.

(1.1) Credit bureaus shall provide the credit information on and credit history of persons prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Commission for Prevention of Corruption” to the Commission for Prevention of Corruption based on the contract concluded between a credit bureau and the Commission for Prevention of Corruption, for the purposes prescribed by point 2.1 and 2.2 of part 2 of this Article.

The procedure for transferring information, by credit bureaus, to the Commission for Prevention of Corruption via an electronic information system shall be prescribed by the joint legal act of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia and the Commission.

2. The permissible purposes of using credit reports shall be as follows:

(1) entering into relations giving rise to monetary liabilities or extending these relations;

(2) entering into employment relations with a person;

(2.1) pursuant to the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Commission for Prevention of Corruption, analysing declarations of persons having an obligation to submit a declaration within the meaning of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On public service” and the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Armenia “On political parties” and conducting a study with respect to integrity in the cases provided for by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Commission for Prevention of Corruption”;

(2.2) verifying annual reports on sources of funds and expenses, as well as property, provided for by the Constitutional Law “On political parties” and the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Commission for Prevention of Corruption”;

(3) updating the information in a previously received credit report in the case prescribed by part 3 of Article 16 of this Law.

3. Credit bureaus may provide credit reports without the contract prescribed by part 1 of this Article only to employers for the purpose prescribed by point 2 of part 2 of this Article, as well as to credit information entities, irrespective of the goals prescribed by part 2 of this Article.

4. Banks operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, including the branches of foreign banks operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, credit organisations, insurance companies shall provide credit information on all their clients to all credit bureaus operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

The procedure for and conditions of provision of credit information to credit bureaus by the indicated entities may be prescribed by a contract concluded between the credit bureaus and the indicated entities.

5. Data provided to the credit bureau by information providers must be accurate and complete (not incomplete).

(Article 12 amended by HO-133-N of 14 April 2011, amended and supplemented by HO-111-N of 9 June 2017, edited by HO-114-N of 9 June 2017, HO-55-N of 19 January 2021, supplemented by HO-8-N of 29 December 2020)

1. Credit bureaus shall bear, as prescribed by law, fiduciary duties before the credit information entity for collecting credit information, as well as other data necessary for preparing a complete credit report, processing, building, storing and providing credit history, and must ensure the confidentiality of data.

2. The consent of the credit information entity shall not be required for the provision of credit information or other data by information providers and other persons to the credit bureau, and the provision of such data to credit bureaus shall not be deemed to be provision or disclosure of banking, trade or other secret, except for the information prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On state and official secret”.

3. Information providers shall be obliged to inform the credit bureau, in writing, about the provision or potential provision of credit information when concluding a contract with their clients (potential clients).

4. Credit information and other data available in the credit bureau must not be disclosed, become accessible or be used for purposes other than those provided for by this Law.

5. The credit bureau must undertake all measures to protect the database from destruction, distortion, disclosure of data and unauthorised access to the database. The credit bureau must fulfil the technical, territorial, software, and security requirements established by the Central Bank.

6. The credit bureau shall be obliged to invite, at least once a year, a specialised expert in order to conduct specialised independent expert examination, to check the possibility of other persons of intruding into the database and the technical equipment of the credit bureau, as well as the mechanisms for the implementation thereof. The expert opinion must be provided to the Central Bank within a period of 10 days upon its receipt.

1. Credit bureaus shall guarantee the maintenance, by a credit bureau, of confidentiality of credit information, except for the cases prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On combating money laundering and financing of terrorism”.

Credit bureaus shall be obliged to provide the information to the Central Bank in the cases and under the procedure prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On combating money laundering and financing of terrorism”.

2. Disclosure, by a credit bureau, of credit information and other data to persons and organisations providing legal, accounting, other consultative or representational services or performing certain works for the given credit bureau, provided that it is necessary for providing the given services or performing the given works and that these persons and organisations are obliged to refrain from the actions or inaction prescribed by part 3 of this Article, shall not be deemed as disclosure of credit information.

3. Employees, managers of a credit bureau, persons having previously acted as a manager or employee of a credit bureau, as well as the persons and organisations which provide or provided services to, perform or previously performed works for the credit bureau, shall be prohibited to disclose the credit information entrusted or having become known to them with respect to the provision of services or performance of works, as well as given their personal interests or those of third persons — shall be prohibited to use it, to provide, directly or indirectly, third persons with the opportunity of such use, that is, to authorise, not to hinder or to make such use possible due to violation of the procedure for storage of such information.

4. Shareholders of a credit bureau acting as shareholders, and members of the board acting as members of the board, may not bear relation to or request data held by the credit bureau.

5. Illegal disclosure of credit information held by a credit bureau, illegal access to or penetration into the database of the credit bureau or acquiring credit history without the consent of the credit information entity shall be deemed to be illegal disclosure of credit information and shall entail liability in compliance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia.

1. A credit report shall be deemed as a written (including electronic) document which contains the credit history of the credit information entity. Credit history shall be provided by the credit bureau in the form of a credit report.

2. The credit bureau may provide other services as a result of processing the credit information available in the database. The provisions prescribed by this Law, regulating the legal regime of credit reports, shall extend to other services containing data identifying the credit information entity, except for the cases provided for by this Law.

3. The procedure for and conditions of providing credit reports and other services by a credit bureau shall be prescribed by a contract concluded between the credit bureau and information receivers, as well as by internal legal acts of the credit bureau.

4. Requests on credit reports made with a credit bureau and provision of credit reports, as well as provision of other services by the credit bureau shall be record-registered by the credit bureau. The procedure for record-registration shall be established by the credit bureau.

1. Receipt, from a credit bureau, of credit reports and other services containing data identifying the credit information entity shall be carried out upon written (including electronic) consent of the credit information entity.

2. The consent of the credit information entity must be precise. The consent must contain the name of the receiver of credit information (name, surname where the receiver of credit report is a natural person), the certain purpose of use of the credit report prescribed by this Law.

3. The consent of the credit information entity shall be required each time when receiving a credit report, except for the case where this consent was given for the entire period of the given relations.

4. Liability for the absence of the consent of the credit information entity at the time of receiving a credit report, as well as for the use of credit reports for purposes other than those prescribed by this Law shall lie with the receivers of credit reports.

5. The credit bureau shall, any time when making a request on credit report, be entitled to require from the receiver of the credit report the documents certifying the availability of the consent of the credit information entity.

6. Credit bureaus must prescribe, in contracts concluded with their clients, the forms via which the availability of such consents must be verified and examined.

7. Receipt of credit reports without the consent of the credit information entity and for purposes other than those prescribed by this Law shall entail liability for the receivers of credit reports in the size and under the procedure prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

8. Data identifying the credit bureau providing a credit report, the receivers of credit reports, and the credit information entity, as well as those on credit information providers as of field of activities (type of activities) must be indicated in the credit report. The list of data included in the credit report may be established by the Board of the Central Bank.

9. The receiver of credit report shall be obliged to keep the document certifying the consent of the credit information entity for at least 36 months from the moment of termination of the relations arisen on the basis of the credit report received in observance of this consent.

(Article 16 amended and supplemented by HO-180-N of 25 May 2011)

1. The consent of a credit information entity shall not be required for the provision, by a credit bureau, of services (including the provision of additional services for historical, statistical, information, scientific and other purposes) as a result of processing the data available in the database, whereby no specific datum on the credit information entity is disclosed and the latter is not identified, and where it is not considered as disclosure of personal, banking, trade or other secret prescribed by this Law and other laws.

2. The consent of a credit information entity shall not be required also in the event of provision of information on the digital credit risk scoring range defined by the credit bureau in respect of the credit information entity, in the event of provision of information to the Central Bank in the cases and under the procedure provided for by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On combating money laundering and financing of terrorism”, as well as in the event of provision of credit reports by the credit bureau to the court, in compliance with the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia.

CHAPTER 4

RIGHTS OF CREDIT INFORMATION ENTITY AND THE PROTECTION THEREOF

1. Receivers of credit reports that, taking as a basis credit reports received from the credit bureau for the purposes prescribed by this Law, refuse to provide services to the credit information entity, to conclude an employment or civil law contract therewith or give rise to unfavourable consequences for the credit information entity, shall be obliged to inform this credit information entity about the credit report having served as a ground for arising of such consequences.

2. Receivers of credit reports shall be obliged to provide, free of charge, the carbon copies of the credit reports prescribed in part 1 of this Article to credit information entities upon the request of a credit information entity. In the cases prescribed by part 1 of this Article, the credit information entity shall be entitled to receive, from the credit bureau, free of charge, the credit report within 30 days following the fact of rejection or that of arising of unfavourable consequences, in case of submitting, by the credit information entity, the documents certifying the rejection or other unfavourable consequences to the credit bureau.

3. The credit information entity shall be entitled to receive, from the credit bureau, free of charge, a complete credit report relating thereto, at least once each 12 months.

4. Credit information shall be provided by the credit bureau to the Commission for Prevention of Corruption free of charge, in case the Commission makes requests in a number equal to the number of declarations submitted by each person or to the number of each candidate and his or her family members within the scope of an integrity study or to the number of annual reports submitted by each political party.

A fee shall be charged for additional requests, the amount whereof shall be prescribed by the contract concluded between the credit bureau and the Commission for Prevention of Corruption.

(Article 18 supplemented by HO-111-N of 9 June 2017, edited by HO-114-N of 9 June 2017, HO-55-N of 19 January 2021)

1. A credit information entity shall also have the right to:

(1) receive, as prescribed by this Law, in full and without restrictions, credit reports related thereto and other services provided by the credit bureau;

(2) receive information on information providers;

(3) receive the names of persons having made a request on the credit information entity during the last one year;

(4) appeal against the data available in the credit bureau, as well as correct and complete the them;

(5) prohibit the credit bureau to sell or to provide any data to clients of the credit bureau, except for the cases prescribed in Article 17 of this Law. The credit information entity must inform the credit bureau, in writing (including in electronic or on-line form), about the decision thereof. The credit bureau shall, within a period of three days after being informed of the decision, prohibit the provision of data.

The prohibition on provision of data shall be valid until it is abolished by the credit information entity, but not later than within three years from the moment of closing them. The credit information entity shall also have the right to renew the prohibition on provision of data. This point shall not extend to the creditors or clients of the credit bureau whereto the credit information entity has given consent on acquisition of credit report until the termination of the relations which have arisen on the basis of this credit report. Moreover, the credit information entity shall not enjoy the right to prohibit the provision of a part of data available in the credit bureau. In the case prescribed by this point, when making a request with the credit bureau on credit information, the credit bureau shall provide, as prescribed by this Law, information as to the credit information entity having prohibited the provision of the data.

2. The credit information entity shall also have other rights provided for by this Law, other laws and other legal acts.

3. The credit bureau shall be obliged to provide the information prescribed by this Law to the credit information entity, where the credit information entity or the authorised person thereof submits to the credit bureau documents or information which will enable to identify the credit information entity making the request, and in case such request is submitted by the authorised person thereof — the authorised person as well.

1. Credit bureaus shall be obliged to prescribe by their internal legal acts and to use cost-effective and efficient procedures for settling disputes arisen between the credit information entity, information providers, receivers of credit report and the credit bureau.

2. In case of detecting incorrect or incomplete data, the credit information entity or the receiver of credit report may inform the credit bureau thereof by making use of the same mechanism for familiarising with or for receiving the credit report or other services provided by the credit bureau. To this regard, credit bureaus must prescribe procedures for informing the credit bureau of incorrect or incomplete data, by taking into account the principle prescribed by this part.

3. Within the meaning of this Law, the datum not corresponding to the reality in the opinion of the credit information entity, receiver of credit report or the credit bureau shall be deemed to be incorrect.

4. Within the meaning of this Law, the datum that is incomplete in the opinion of the credit information entity, receiver of credit report or the credit bureau shall be deemed to be incomplete.

5. The credit bureau shall be obliged to correct the errors and shortcomings arisen due to its fault within a reasonable time limit, but not later than within ten days after being notified thereof.

6. Where the errors and shortcomings appeared due to the fault of the information provider, the credit bureau shall inform the information provider thereof maximum on the day following the date of receiving the notice, which shall consider the request for correcting or eliminating the data error or shortcomings within a period of 15 days and shall inform the entities prescribed by this part. Moreover, where the information provider accepts that the errors and shortcomings derive from the actions thereof, it shall correct the data and shall forward them to all credit bureaus to which it provided information, and where the information provider does not accept that the error and shortcomings derive from the actions thereof, it shall inform the credit bureau thereof.

7. The bureau shall, upon receipt of relevant decision of the information provider, inform the credit information entity thereof within 5 days (where the process of disputing the data was initiated by the credit information entity). The credit information entity may, in case of disagreeing with the opinion of the information provider, continue disputing the data in compliance with the dispute settlement procedures of the credit bureau or may apply — in the cases and under the procedure prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Financial System Mediator” — to the Financial System Mediator (in case a natural person acts as credit information entity) or to the court.

8. The credit bureau shall be obliged, upon receipt of a notice as to the credit information being incorrect or incomplete, to indicate the words “data being disputed” in the database, as well as credit reports.

9. The credit bureau may not, without the consent of the credit information entity, delete the words “data being disputed” available in the database. The credit bureau shall, without the consent of the credit information entity, delete these words from the database, as well as from credit reports only upon the existence of relevant decision of the court or that of the Financial System Mediator.

10. Credit bureaus must provide for a procedure for dispute settlement between the credit information entity and the information provider in the contracts concluded with persons providing information.

11. Bureaus shall not initiate a new procedure with regard to issues previously disputed by the credit information entity and having been granted a positive or negative solution.

12. For the purpose of correcting data errors and shortcomings, the credit information entity shall be entitled to apply directly to the information provider as well, which shall inform the credit bureau, within a reasonable time period, of the results of disputing.

13. The credit bureau shall, within a period of 15 days, be obliged to inform — of the corrected data — the persons having received a credit report during preceding three months.

(Article 20 supplemented by HO-14-N of 21 December 2015)

1. The credit bureau may not implement a discriminatory price policy.

1. The credit bureau may not sell, transfer its database, in full or in parts, to another person under the right to lease or otherwise where this person, given the requirements of this Law, has no licence for carrying out activities of a credit bureau in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, except for the case prescribed by part 2 of this Article.

2. In case credit bureaus operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia refuse to acquire the database of a credit bureau or to accept it or in case no credit bureau operates in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, the database shall be deposited with the Central Bank, which may further provide it to another credit bureau.

The cases of and the procedure for provision of a database to a credit bureau by the Central Bank shall be prescribed by a contract concluded between the Central Bank and this credit bureau.

3. The procedure for and the conditions of transferring or providing the database of the credit bureau to the Central Bank or another credit bureau shall be prescribed by the Central Bank.

4. The database of the credit bureau may not be pledged, confiscated or otherwise alienated against the liabilities of the credit bureau and other persons.

CHAPTER 5

PUBLICITY OF THE ACTIVITIES OF CREDIT BUREAUS AND STORAGE OF DOCUMENTS IN CREDIT BUREAUS

1. The credit bureau shall draw up, publish and submit to the Central Bank financial statements and other reports.

2. The forms of, procedure, time limits for and the conditions of submission of reports published and submitted to the Central Bank by a credit bureau shall be established by the Central Bank.

1. The credit bureau shall be obliged to have an Internet website where the credit bureau shall be obliged to publish the following:

(1) internal legal acts on services provided by the credit bureau;

(2) internal legal acts on the procedure for dispute settlement by the credit bureau;

(3) information on the procedure for receiving credit reports from the credit bureau and other services provided by the credit bureau;

(4) annual financial statements and the opinion of the person conducting audit on the statements (in the cases prescribed by law, in the event of availability of the opinion of the person conducting the audit);

(5) financial statements;

(6) announcement on convening a general meeting;

(7) carbon copies of the decisions on paying dividends;

(8) names of shareholders having 10 per cent and more stocks of the credit bureau, and the list of members of the board and the executive body;

(9) tariff policy for services provided by the credit bureau;

(10) name, location (place of residence) of information providers;

(11) other information prescribed by this Law and the statute of the credit bureau.

2. Information published by a credit bureau on Internet website must be complete and reliable and updated within 5 days following their change.

1. Credit information, as well as other data (including in electronic form) shall be archived by a credit bureau in the manner and within the time limits prescribed by laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Armenia, but for a period not less than three years following the expiry of the time limit prescribed for including them in the credit reports prescribed by point 2 of part 6 of Article 11 of this Law.

2. Contracts, agreements concluded with a credit bureau on provision of credit information and other data and on receipt of credit reports, as well as other similar documents and information, their amendments or supplements shall be stored and archived in the manner and within the time limits prescribed by laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Armenia, but for a period not less than three years following the termination of the contracts, agreements and other similar documents prescribed by this part.

CHAPTER 6

SANCTIONS IMPOSED FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS LAW AND LEGAL ACTS ADOPTED ON THE BASIS OF THIS LAW

1. The Central Bank may impose the following sanctions on a credit bureau for violations of this Law and other legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law:

(1) warning and assignment on elimination of violations;

(2) fine in the amount of two hundred thousand Armenian drams;

(3) withdrawal of licence.

2. The Central Bank may impose, on a credit bureau, warning and assignment on elimination of violations, where the credit bureau:

(1) provides services to the receivers of credit reports and credit information entities in violations of this Law and other legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law;

(2) has violated the rules of accounting, as well as the procedure for and conditions of submitting financial statements and other reports;

(3) has reflected false or non-reliable data in the documents indicated in point 2 of this part.

3. The Central Bank may define, by virtue of warning or assignment on elimination of violations, a time limit for execution of the assignment and a requirement to perform certain measures. The assignment issued by virtue of warning shall be binding for the person having been imposed warning.

4. The Central Bank shall impose a fine on a credit bureau, where the latter:

(1) has failed to fulfil, within the time limit prescribed, the assignment of the Central Bank to eliminate the violations;

(2) has committed, within one year, two and more violations of this Law and legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law;

(3) has violated the territorial, technical, security and software requirements to a credit bureau.

5. The Central Bank may withdraw the credit bureau licence, where:

(1) the sanction “fine” has been imposed, twice and more times within one year, on a credit bureau by the Central Bank;

(2) the security requirements to the database of a credit bureau have been violated.

6. The Central Bank may, for violations — by persons licensed by the Central Bank— of this Law and legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law, impose sanctions prescribed by the law regulating the activities of the given entity.

7. Where no liability is provided for, by the law regulating the activities of the given person licensed by the Central Bank, for violations of this Law and legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law, the Central Bank may impose the following sanctions:

(1) warning and assignment on elimination of violations;

(2) fine in the amount of two hundred thousand Armenian drams;

(3) withdrawal of licence.

8. In the case prescribed by part 7 of this Article, the Central Bank shall impose:

(1) warning and assignment on elimination of violations, where the given person has violated the provisions of this Law and those of a legal act adopted on the basis of this Law;

(2) fine, where the given person has submitted incorrect credit information to the credit bureau or has received a credit report from the credit bureau without the consent of the credit information entity or has been subjected to liability, twice and more times within one year, for violations of this Law or legal acts adopted on the basis of this Law;

(3) withdrawal of licence, where the person has been subjected to liability, twice and more times within one year, by the Central Bank for submitting incorrect credit information to the credit bureau or for receiving a credit report from the credit bureau without the consent of the credit information entity.

9. Application of sanctions provided for by this Law shall not exempt the credit bureau and persons licensed by the Central Bank from the liability provided for by other laws and contracts.

CHAPTER 7

TRANSITIONAL AND OTHER PROVISIONS

1. A credit bureau shall be liquidated in the cases and under the procedure prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

2. The credit bureau shall, within at least 10 days before delivery of the decision on liquidation, be obliged to transfer or alienate the database as prescribed by this Law and regulatory legal acts of the Central Bank to the entities indicated by this Law.

1. This Law shall enter into force after six month following its official promulgation.

2. Persons or organisations carrying out activities prescribed by this Law in the territory of the Republic of Armenia shall be obliged to bring their activities into compliance with the requirements of this Law within three months following the entry into force of this Law.

3. Commercial banks, credit organisations, insurance companies or their affiliated persons, holding, by the right to vote, more than 20 (twenty) per cent of voting stocks of an organisation carrying out activities — prescribed by this Law — before the entry into force of this Law, shall be obliged to alienate these more than 20 per cent of stocks within one year upon entry into force of this Law.

4. In case of being licensed within the time limit prescribed by part 2 of this Article, data provided for by this Law, collected by credit bureaus operating before the entry into force of this Law, shall be deemed to be collected in compliance with this Law.

(Article 28 amended by HO-133-N of 14 April 2011)

President of the Republic of Armenia	S. Sargsyan
17 November 2008, Yerevan HO-185-N

Published on a joint site 28.09.2023