FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES
Our chamber was founded on September 22, 1987, by traditional companies which provide commercial information to significant sectors of the Argentine economy, especially commerce, industry and finance.
It has been authorized by the Inspección General de Justicia de la Nación (Superintendence of Corporations, also known by its abbreviation IGJ in Spanish) by resolution Nº 000319 on May 5, 1988, and it succeeded in keeping unscathed its foundational principles.
In its articles of incorporation: “…that come to formalize a civil nonprofit corporation constituted by the companies they represent, therefore they set up the Cámara de Empresas de Información Comercial (Chamber of Commercial Information Companies or CEIC by its abbreviation in Spanish), which purpose is to raise the profile of the product and encourage its use, whatever way it may be, in every commercial transaction, by making the member companies responsible for that categorization on the basis of their practices and corporate behavior; to exert as much pressure as possible on all domestic economic sectors to eradicate secrecy and piracy demanding that the commercial information be provided by reliable companies, members of the Chamber or not; to join the entity that, by bringing together the Chambers of Service Companies, represents the main issues of such important sector of the national economy.”
CORPORATE PURPOSE
According to the Article II of the Chamber’s bylaws, its purpose is:
a) To gather all companies whose activities are related to commercial information,
b) To represent its members, individually or collectively, before the relevant authorities, unions and/or labor and employers entities, or accredited delegations,
c) To raise the profile of the information and encourage its use, whatever way it may be, in every commercial transaction, by making the member companies responsible for that categorization on the basis of their practices and corporate behavior,
d) To promote and establish measures in all domestic economic sectors to eradicate secrecy and unfair competition, demanding that the commercial information be provided by reliable companies, members of this Chamber,
e) To foster the spirit of solidarity, assistance and mutual cooperation, to entities or companies related to the commercial information,
f) To advise the public authorities, to propose the required measures for the development of the activity concerning the provision of information, and to participate in committees, agencies and collegiate organizations that state the legal rules related to this activity,
g) To participate on behalf of the member companies in national and international congresses concerning commercial information.
h) To represent the member companies before national, provincial and municipal public authorities in every circumstance in which a common action is considered necessary,
i) To form or participate in federations or confederations for the defense of common interests.”
Likewise, the Article V states: “It could be a member of this Chamber every company whose activity concerns the commercial information, regarding credit risk coverage and related issues, according to the stated conditions.”
CODE OF CONDUCT
The member companies of the CEIC commit themselves to carry out their activities within the established legal framework, observing the following basic principles that constitute the appropriate scenario for the responsible exercise of the activity.
Obligatory Registration
The member companies commit themselves to register in the National Bureau of Personal Data Protection, an essential requirement to be part of the CEIC.
Declaration
The member companies of the CEIC declare to comply with the Act Nº 25.326 (Personal Data Protection Act) and with its Regulatory Decree Nº 1558/01, and they undertake to respect the directives established by the National Bureau of Personal Data Protection.
Objectives
The member companies commit themselves to define accurately the objective of their services, aimed to secure the transparency of commercial, credit and financial data, by providing information to prevent fraud and promote credit, therefore facilitating the realization of business in general. Likewise, they commit themselves to maintain the proper use of the information by restricting the access only to the users that have a legitimate interest in it.
Competition
The member companies commit themselves to secure equal opportunities and respectful treatment among the partners, bringing assistance, cooperation and solidarity to maintain an environment of healthy competition. Likewise, they commit themselves before the community to denounce any situation of unfair competition and work to eradicate practices incompatible with ethics and/or that violate the regulatory framework in force.
Security and Confidentiality
The member companies commit themselves to take the necessary technical and organizational measures in order to guarantee the security and confidentiality of the stored data, respecting and making others to respect the non-disclosure obligation regarding such information.
Collected Data
The member companies commit themselves to collect appropriate, relevant and non-excessive data from lawful sources to guarantee the realization of business and credit operations in general.
Information Update
The member companies commit themselves to handle the information according to the regulatory framework in force, respecting the right to oblivion and making the greatest efforts to update the information collected. They also commit themselves to consider the documentation that the owner of the information provides to update or rectify it, checking its authenticity previously, and to record in the information at issue, during the procedure, that it has been submitted for review.
Right of Access
The member companies commit themselves to guarantee the owner of the information his right to know what data about his own person is placed in the data base, including the list of those who had accessed his information. For such purpose, the member companies should check accurately the identity of the requester.
Representativeness
CEIC commits itself to represent its member companies defending their interests in all circumstances that require its action, observing and making others observe its principles.
Communication
The member companies commit themselves to promote the principles that support the responsible exercise of the activity they perform. For that purpose, they bind themselves to collaborate with broadcasting to the community the rights recognized in the regulatory framework in force, particularly those related to the management of personal credit information.
Breach of Code
In case of breach of the rules prescribed in this Code, the Board of Directors of the CEIC will be responsible for driving the process described in articles 9 and 10 of the bylaws, and able to impose sanctions according to the seriousness of the misdeed and characteristics of the case: a) admonition; b) suspension; c) expulsion.