The Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) placed the Digital Savings Deposit Certificate System (CDA-d) into full production on Monday, the 21st. The platform allows authorized banks and finance companies to issue, register, hold in custody, clear and settle these instruments electronically.
The new system dematerializes Savings Deposit Certificates (CDA), which are now represented by account entries and electronic records while retaining the financial nature of the traditional product. The change reduces reliance on paper documents and allows customers to invest entirely digitally, without issuing, transporting or storing physical certificates.
Since the system entered production, authorized institutions have been able to offer CDA-d to customers. The implementation expands the available investment options and seeks to reduce manual processes, operational risks, time and costs related to issuing and storing physical documents.
The infrastructure is provided and administered by the BCP's Securities Depositary (DEPO). The system centralizes the registration and electronic custody of the instruments and supports the clearing and settlement of transactions carried out by participating institutions.
The transition will be gradual. During an initial stage of at least two years, digital CDAs will coexist with paper certificates, allowing banks, finance companies and customers to adapt progressively to the new procedure.
The BCP also associates CDA-d with gains in efficiency, transparency and traceability in transactions. In practice, the change concentrates the stages of issuance, placement, registration, custody, clearing and settlement in an electronic infrastructure without altering the nature of the savings deposit certificate.
With the system entering operation, the central bank is advancing the modernization of Paraguay's financial infrastructure, while the physical format remains valid during the coexistence period established for market adaptation.