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Setting up a bank in Colombia: SFC licensing, foreign bank branches, assigned capital, solvency and leverage ratios and electronic payment companies (SEDPE)

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Entities supervised by the SFC must be organized as sociedades anónimas or cooperatives, except foreign banks and insurers operating through branches, which since Ley 1328 de 2009 may keep their own legal form. The application must include the bylaws, capital, resumes of shareholders and managers, a feasibility study and, for foreign groups, proof of consolidated home supervision, and the SFC has four months to decide from a complete file. A branch has the same rights and duties as a Colombian bank, must bring in and convert its assigned capital into pesos, cannot exceed operations backed by that capital, gives Colombian creditors a preference over its assets and must register with Fogafín. Credit institutions must keep at least 9 percent total solvency, 4.5 percent CET1 and 3 percent leverage; SEDPEs, the narrow electronic deposit and payments licence, need at least 2 percent leverage.

USD figures use the TRM of COP 3,157.94 per US dollar valid on 27 October 2026, certified by the Superintendencia Financiera and published on the national open data portal (datos.gov.co). Amounts in UVT use the 2026 UVT of COP 52,374 (DIAN Resolución 000238 de 2025) and amounts in minimum wages use the 2026 monthly minimum wage of COP 1,750,905 (Decreto 1469 de 2025). Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

SFC term to decide a licence application from a complete file	4 monthsEOSF art. 53 num. 5 (Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 68), as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Foreign banks may operate through branches	Yes, since Ley 1328 de 2009, with assigned capital converted into pesos textEOSF art. 45A (Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 65), as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Minimum total solvency ratio, credit institutions	9 %Decreto 2555 de 2010 art. 2.1.1.1.2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Minimum basic solvency ratio (CET1), credit institutions	4.5 %Decreto 2555 de 2010 art. 2.1.1.1.3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Minimum leverage ratio, credit institutions	3 %Decreto 2555 de 2010 art. 2.1.1.1.3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Minimum leverage ratio, SEDPE electronic payment companies	2 %Decreto 2555 de 2010 art. 2.38.1.1.2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
SEDPE minimum capital in the 2014 law, before annual CPI adjustment	5846000000 COPLey 1735 de 2014 art. 3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Entities to be supervised by the SFC must be organized as commercial sociedades anónimas or cooperatives, except banks and insurers from abroad operating through branches, which may keep their own legal form. The application must include: the draft bylaws (for branches, authenticated copies of the foreign entity's constitutive documents and bylaws, the resolution to establish in Colombia and a certificate that the foreign entity can answer for the branch's obligations); the capital and how it will be paid (for branches, the capital assigned, which must be brought into the country and converted to pesos and may not be lower than the minimum for Colombian banks or insurers); resumes of shareholders and managers (for branches, of beneficial owners of 10 percent or more of the foreign entity, its managers and the branch's attorney in fact and managers); a feasibility study with technology, internal control and risk management plans; and any other information the SFC requests.
Cost to do it: The minimum capital for a bank is a peso amount adjusted every year; the 2026 figure could not be confirmed on an official, current source and is not quoted here.Estatuto Orgánico del Sistema Financiero (Decreto 663 de 1993) art. 53 num. 1 and 3, as amended by Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 66, EOSF art. 53 (Ley 1328 art. 66), 2009-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. For entities whose beneficial owners include foreign financial institutions, or for branches of foreign banks or insurers, the SFC may require proof that they will be subject, directly or indirectly, to consolidated supervision by the competent foreign authority under internationally accepted principles, and a copy of the foreign authorization where home law requires it; the same may be required to authorize a foreign financial institution's acquisition of shares. The SFC may also require information on the beneficial owners of any applicant, at incorporation and later.EOSF art. 53 num. 3 lit. f, as amended by Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 66, EOSF art. 53 num. 3 lit. f, 2009-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. Once the procedure in the preceding numeral of art. 53 is complete, the Financial Superintendent must decide the application within four months from the date the applicant files all the documentation generally required; the term is suspended while the SFC waits for additional information or clarifications. The authorized entity must execute the public deed of incorporation (for branches, record the documents under the Commercial Code rules for branches of foreign companies) within the term set in the resolution, and may carry on activities other than its own organization only once it obtains the certificate of authorization to operate.EOSF art. 53 num. 5 and 6, as amended by Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 66 and art. 68, EOSF art. 53 num. 5 and 6, 2009-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Branches of foreign banks and insurers are financial entities supervised by the SFC on the same terms as Colombian banks and insurers, with the same rights and obligations, including the capital regime. Their assigned capital must be effectively brought into Colombia and converted into pesos under the foreign investment and FX rules, and their operations are limited by that capital. The foreign bank answers at all times for the branch's obligations; Colombian resident creditors have a preference over the branch's assets if the branch or its parent enters insolvency; the branch needs no board but must have a broadly empowered attorney in fact who meets the fit and proper tests and takes office before the SFC; it must use the foreign entity's name followed by "sucursal en Colombia"; no diplomatic claims may be raised over its business; and it must register with Fogafín, the deposit insurer, like Colombian banks.
Example: A branch of a foreign bank with COP 200,000 million of assigned capital measures every limit and ratio on that capital, not on the parent's balance sheet. / That assigned capital is about US$63.3 million, which must arrive as foreign direct investment and be converted into pesos.EOSF art. 45A, 45B and 45C, added by Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 65, EOSF art. 45A to 45C, 2009-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Credit institutions must maintain a total solvency ratio of at least 9 percent, a basic (CET1) solvency ratio of at least 4.5 percent, an additional basic solvency ratio of at least 6 percent and a leverage ratio of at least 3 percent (see the overview page for definitions).Decreto 2555 de 2010, as amended by Decreto 1477 de 2018 and Decreto 1421 de 2019, Art. 2.1.1.1.2 and art. 2.1.1.1.3, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Specialized electronic deposit and payment companies (sociedades especializadas en depósitos y pagos electrónicos, SEDPE) are financial institutions whose exclusive purpose is to take funds only through electronic deposits, make payments and transfers, borrow in Colombia or abroad only to fund their operations (never repaying with public funds) and send and receive money transfers. The minimum capital to apply for incorporation was set at COP 5,846,000,000, adjusted automatically every January by the change in the consumer price index and rounded up to the next million. Withdrawals from their electronic deposits are exempt from the tax on financial movements on the terms of ET art. 879 num. 25.
Cost to do it: Base minimum capital COP 5,846,000,000 (about US$1.85 million at today's TRM) in the original law, before the annual inflation adjustments since 2015, which are not quoted here.Ley 1735 de 2014, Art. 1, art. 2 and art. 3, 2014-10-21 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. Funds taken by a SEDPE must be kept in deposits at Banco de la República or in demand deposits at SFC supervised entities, and SEDPEs must keep a leverage ratio (technical capital divided by the 30 day average balance of electronic deposits) of at least 2 percent at all times.
Example: A SEDPE with an average COP 100,000 million of electronic deposits needs at least COP 2,000 million of technical capital. / Per US$10 million of average deposits, at least US$200,000 of technical capital.Decreto 2555 de 2010, Book 38 of Part 2, added by Decreto 1491 de 2015, Art. 2.38.1.1.2 and art. 2.38.1.1.4, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Route	Legal form	Capital base	Key point
Colombian bank subsidiary	Sociedad anónima	Own capital, at least the legal minimum	Full board and governance; separate legal person
Branch of a foreign bank	Foreign entity's own form, named "sucursal en Colombia"	Assigned capital brought in and converted into pesos, not below the bank minimum	Parent answers for all obligations; local creditor preference; Fogafín registration
SEDPE	Financial institution with exclusive purpose	COP 5,846 million in 2014 terms, CPI indexed	Electronic deposits and payments only; 2% leverage
Representative office	No local entity	None	Promotion only; see the cross border services page

Licensing routes for a foreign banking group (EOSF as amended by Ley 1328 de 2009; Ley 1735 de 2014; Decreto 2555 de 2010)

Worked example

A US bank compares a Colombian subsidiary with a branch. A branch lets it keep its own legal form and avoid a local board, but every operation is capped by the capital it assigns and converts into pesos, the parent answers for all branch obligations, and Colombian creditors rank first on branch assets in insolvency (EOSF art. 45A and 45B as added by Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 65).
Either way the SFC may ask for proof of consolidated supervision by the US authorities and must decide within four months of a complete file, with the clock stopping for each information request (EOSF art. 53 num. 3 lit. f and num. 5).

Step by step

1. Choose the route: subsidiary, branch, SEDPE or representative office only.
2. Obtain the home supervisor's authorization or no objection and evidence of consolidated supervision.
3. Prepare the feasibility study with technology, internal control and risk management plans, and fit and proper files for 10 percent beneficial owners and managers.
4. File with the SFC and plan for the four month term to restart its clock with each information request.
5. After authorization, execute the incorporation deed or record the branch documents, bring in and register the capital as foreign investment, register with Fogafín and obtain the certificate of authorization before starting operations.

Common traps

Starting commercial activity after the incorporation resolution but before the certificate of authorization to operate (EOSF art. 53 num. 6).
Treating a branch's capacity as the parent's: branch operations are limited by the capital actually assigned and converted in Colombia (EOSF art. 45A).
Taking money from the public in any form without a licence, which is the crime under Código Penal art. 316 (see the overview page).
Assuming the SEDPE capital is still COP 5,846 million: the law indexes it to inflation every January.

Sources

← Foreign banks, brokers, insurers and funds serving Colombia: representative offices, correspondent contracts, reverse solicitation, offering foreign securities and cross border insuranceInterest rates, usury and loan terms in Colombia: the monthly SFC certified rate, the usury ceiling by credit type, the double refund penalty, compound interest, prepayment rights and the end of the DTF →