Countries › Colombia › Guide › 10. Capital markets and finance › Foreign banks, brokers, insurers and funds serving Colombia: representative offices, correspondent contracts, reverse solicitation, offering foreign securities and cross border insurance

Foreign banks, brokers, insurers and funds serving Colombia: representative offices, correspondent contracts, reverse solicitation, offering foreign securities and cross border insurance

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

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

A foreign financial institution that wants to promote its services in Colombia or to Colombian residents needs an SFC authorized representative office (or representation through its Colombian group company), and a foreign securities firm may instead use a correspondent contract with a local broker, which can start 15 business days after a complete filing if the SFC is silent. A representative office may promote, explain and collect but may never take deposits, make offers, sign contracts, close or book deals, receive payments or lend. Foreign securities may be offered publicly in Colombia if rated and listed on a recognized foreign exchange, and foreign insurers may only sell marine, aviation, space transport and goods in transit cover, while residents may buy most other insurance abroad on their own initiative.

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

Foreign financial institutions need an authorized representative office to promote services in Colombia	Yes, unless an exception or correspondent contract applies textDecreto 2555 de 2010 art. 4.1.1.1.2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Correspondent contract may start if the SFC is silent after a complete filing	15 business daysDecreto 2555 de 2010 art. 4.1.1.1.4 parágrafo 3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Audited financial statements required with a representative office application	3 yearsDecreto 2555 de 2010 art. 4.1.1.1.4, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Insurance lines foreign insurers may sell into Colombia	International marine, international commercial aviation, space launch and transport, goods in international transit textEOSF art. 39 as amended by Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 61, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. A foreign institution applying for a representative office files with the SFC, in Spanish or with official translation: a home authority certificate of existence, representation and permitted operations; its bylaws; the home supervisor's authorization or no objection (or, if none is required, a legal opinion from an independent home country lawyer confirming it is supervised); the board or shareholder resolution approving the office; a business plan including promotion plans; the appointment and resume of the individual who will be legal representative; powers including authority to receive judicial notice and a Colombian address; consolidated audited financial statements for the last three years; anti money laundering controls; and anything else the SFC asks for. The authorization is granted for an indefinite term, and one office may represent several institutions of the same group if each is authorized.
Cost to do it: No capital requirement appears in Part 4; the costs are legal work, translations and apostilles, a resident legal representative and SFC supervision fees, which are not quoted here.Decreto 2555 de 2010, Part 4 (compiling Decreto 2558 de 2007), Art. 4.1.1.1.4, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. For foreign securities firms that choose a correspondent contract, the filings may be made through the future Colombian correspondent, adding a copy of the contract in Spanish. If the SFC has not responded 15 business days after the complete filing, the correspondent may start performing the contract. A foreign institution with a parent, affiliate or subsidiary in Colombia may instead be represented by it, after SFC authorization, designating a representative and using the local entity's network, as long as the public can clearly tell the foreign institution is a separate legal person.Decreto 2555 de 2010, Part 4, Art. 4.1.1.1.4 parágrafo 3 and art. 4.1.1.1.5, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. A representative office of a foreign financial or securities institution may only promote or advertise the institution and its services. It may carry out related administrative work; act as a link with clients resident in Colombia (handing over and receiving documents, advising on risks, disclosing all fees, costs and taxes); collect loans granted by the represented institution (but payments must go directly to the foreign institution); run promotional campaigns; and open business promotion offices elsewhere with prior notice to the SFC. It must display a sign identifying itself as a representative office and tell clients that the products are provided by the foreign institution and how it is supervised.Decreto 2555 de 2010, Part 4, Art. 4.1.1.1.7 and art. 4.1.1.1.9, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Representative offices, their representatives and staff must not: carry out any other activity that requires government authorization; take funds from the public or act as foreign exchange intermediaries; make binding offers under art. 845 of the Commercial Code; sign or perfect contracts with residents on behalf of the institution; close, book or give final authorization to transactions; make or receive money or securities in payment (except a correspondent, which may deliver and receive money, securities and documents); guarantee the transactions they promote; or take positions or provide financing in them. The legal representative must take office before the SFC and may not be an officer of another representative office or of a Colombian financial, insurance or securities entity.
Example: A representative office banker in Bogotá may present a credit proposal and collect the client's documents, but the loan offer, signature and disbursement must come from the bank abroad. / A US$30 million loan to a Colombian company is fine if signed and booked offshore; it breaches Part 4 if the Bogotá office signs it or receives the repayments.Decreto 2555 de 2010, Part 4, Art. 4.1.1.1.8 and art. 4.1.1.1.11, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Public offering in Colombia of securities issued by foreign entities may be authorized if: debt securities are to order or registered and a Colombian domiciled institution acts as issue administrator; the securities may be offered publicly in the issuer's home country; they are rated by an internationally recognized agency or an SFC supervised agency; for shares, the corporate rights of Colombian holders and how they will exercise them are explained; and the issuer has securities listed on an internationally recognized exchange, or alternatively is domiciled in an acceptable jurisdiction and has a Colombian parent, affiliate or subsidiary with RNVE securities that assumes joint liability. Colombian companies may issue securities only abroad, subject then only to foreign rules plus Colombian tax, FX and foreign investment rules.Decreto 2555 de 2010, as amended by Decreto 4804 de 2010 art. 1, Art. 6.11.1.1.1 and art. 6.12.1.1.1, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. It is prohibited to enter into insurance operations in Colombia with foreign entities not authorized to carry on insurance in Colombia, or with their agents. As exceptions, foreign insurers may offer in Colombia or to its residents only insurance linked to international maritime transport, international commercial aviation and space launch and transport (including satellites), covering the goods, the vehicle and related civil liability, and insurance of goods in international transit; otherwise they may not offer, promote or advertise in Colombia. Residents may buy any insurance abroad except social security related cover (disability and survivors, annuities, occupational risks), compulsory insurance, insurance that requires proof of compulsory cover or social security compliance, and insurance where the policyholder, insured or beneficiary is a state entity, save as the Government allows. Foreign brokers and Colombian agents may only intermediate the excepted marine, aviation, space and transit cover.
Example: A Colombian exporter may insure cargo in international transit with a London insurer, and may buy directors and officers cover abroad on its own initiative, but its workers' occupational risk cover must come from a Colombian ARL.Estatuto Orgánico del Sistema Financiero art. 39, 40 and 41, as amended by Ley 1328 de 2009 art. 61 to 63, EOSF art. 39 parágrafos 1 and 2 (Ley 1328 art. 61), 2009-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. Foreign reinsurers may open representative offices, which may only accept or cede reinsurance in the name of the represented reinsurer and handle collections, payments and settlements with their cedants, retrocessionaires and reinsurance intermediaries; they may never act as insurers.Decreto 2555 de 2010, Part 4, Art. 4.1.1.1.6, 2010-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Allowed	Prohibited
Promote and advertise the institution and its services	Take deposits or funds from the public, act in the FX market
Hand over and receive client documents	Make binding offers, sign contracts on its behalf
Advise on risks and disclose all fees, costs and taxes	Close, book or give final approval to transactions
Collect loans of the represented institution (payments go abroad)	Receive money or securities in payment (correspondents excepted)
Open promotion offices with prior notice to the SFC	Guarantee, take positions in or finance promoted transactions

What a representative office of a foreign financial institution may and may not do (Decreto 2555 de 2010 art. 4.1.1.1.7 and 4.1.1.1.8)

Worked example

A US investment bank wants to cover Colombian corporates from Bogotá. It applies for a representative office with its home supervisor's no objection, three years of audited consolidated statements and a resident representative who takes office before the SFC; once authorized, its bankers may pitch and explain deals, while every mandate letter and loan agreement is signed and booked in New York (Decreto 2555 de 2010 art. 4.1.1.1.4, 4.1.1.1.7 and 4.1.1.1.8).
A US broker that wants Colombian clients to buy US equities signs a correspondent contract with a Colombian stockbroker; filing through the correspondent, it may start 15 business days after a complete filing if the SFC does not respond (art. 4.1.1.1.4 parágrafo 3).

Step by step

1. Map what you will do with Colombian residents: promotion, advice, lending, brokerage, fund distribution or insurance.
2. Check whether an exception applies (reverse solicitation, syndicate member, multilateral lender, group with a licensed Colombian subsidiary) before applying for an office (art. 4.1.1.1.3, see the overview page).
3. For securities firms, compare a correspondent contract with a local broker to a full representative office.
4. Gather the art. 4.1.1.1.4 file: home supervisor letter or legal opinion, three years of audited statements, AML controls, translated and apostilled.
5. Write internal rules so local staff never sign, close or receive payments, and keep evidence of where contracts were concluded.
6. For foreign funds, use a specialized distributor; for foreign securities offerings, check the art. 6.11.1.1.1 rating and listing conditions.

Common traps

Local staff signing term sheets or loan agreements in Colombia, or accepting repayments into a local account (art. 4.1.1.1.8 num. 4 to 6).
Relying on reverse solicitation after marketing: the exception covers only services the resident requested without any prior promotion.
Selling foreign life, health or general policies to Colombian residents by a foreign insurer: outside the marine, aviation, space and transit lines it is prohibited and sanctionable (EOSF art. 39).
Appointing as office representative an officer of a Colombian bank or insurer, which art. 4.1.1.1.11 forbids.

Sources

← Investment funds and private equity in Colombia: collective investment funds (FIC), private equity funds (FCP), foreign funds, who may manage and sell them, and the pass through tax ruleSetting up a bank in Colombia: SFC licensing, foreign bank branches, assigned capital, solvency and leverage ratios and electronic payment companies (SEDPE) →