Scope of operations
There are State-Owned Enterprises operations throughout the country, some of them, such as Correos de Chile and Banco Estado, have a presence throughout the country, while others have a presence in a specific city or region, such as port companies.
There are no legal restrictions for State-Owned Enterprises to develop international operations, if their line of business includes the provision of services or production of goods that can be traded internationally.
State-Owned Enterprises may participate only in markets in which they carry out business activities for which the State has been legally authorized to participate.
State-Owned Enterprises are financed with their own resources, with debt and in special cases with contributions from the State through capital increases or transfers.
State-Owned Enterprises may not contract loans with other State-Owned Enterprises with the State or with State bodies, due to a constitutional prohibition.
Additionally, to obtain loans with private institutions, SOEs require authorization from the Ministry of Finance.
State-Owned Enterprises may grant concessions to private individuals to carry out the activity authorized by law, provided that the law that authorized such activity expressly contemplates it.
Yes, in the cases and terms required for private corporations. That is, when they are issuers of publicly offered instruments (open corporations whose shares are traded on the stock exchange and companies that have issued bonds).
Yes, they must have an external audit, since the financial statements they submit to the Financial Market Comission must be audited by an external auditing firm, as required by NCG No. 30.
As for internal audits, all SOEs have an internal audit unit or a unit that performs such functions.
State-Owned Enterprises that are incorporated as open stock corporations, which are those companies that trade their shares on the stock exchange, may do so. Zofri S.A. is currently the only state-owned company that trades its shares on the stock exchange.
State-Owned Enterprises cannot contract loans with the State, its agencies or companies, since this is expressly prohibited by Article 63 Nº 9 of the Political Constitution of the Republic. However, they may contract loans with private entities, with the authorization of the Ministry of Finance.
Yes, but as in the case of debts with domestic entities, they require authorization from the Ministry of Finance.