Colombia issues Decree 510 of 2026 establishing a new framework for Fiduciary Business

Executive Summary:

• Decree 510 adds a new Title 5 to Decree 2555 of 2010, creating a dedicated regulatory framework for fiduciary business in Colombia.
• The decree introduces the concept of “Fiduciary Service” and distinguishes fiduciary risks from non-fiduciary risks.
• Fiduciary firms (sociedades fiduciarias) must strengthen information, risk-management, reporting, conflict-of-interest, and contract-governance processes.
• Contracts must now include detailed provisions on information recipients, joint information mechanisms, risk matrices, valuation, investment results, use of fiduciary name, liquidation, and technical control mechanisms.
• Existing fiduciary businesses continue to be governed by the rules in force when they were entered into, while the SFC must issue implementing instructions within 12 months.

Introduction and Background

On May 19, 2026, Colombia issued Decree 510 of 2026, which amends Decree 2555 of 2010 by adding a new regulatory title governing fiduciary businesses. The decree aims to strengthen consumer protection, transparency, legal certainty, and risk management in the fiduciary sector, which the government identifies as a key part of Colombia’s financial system and project-finance ecosystem.

Key Provisions

Scope and Core Definitions:

The decree applies to acts arising from fiducia mercantil and encargo fiduciario contracts entered into by fiduciary companies in connection with their authorized fiduciary activities. It defines “Negocio Fiduciario,” “Servicio Fiduciario,” “Fiducia Mercantil,” “Encargo Fiduciario,” “Riesgos Fiduciarios,” and “Riesgos no Fiduciarios.”

The introduction of “Servicio Fiduciario” is important because it frames the fiduciary company’s responsibility around the service it undertakes to provide under the contract, rather than treating all project-related risks as fiduciary risks.

New Guiding Principles:

The decree establishes five principles: segregation, professionalism, prevalence of the interests of the fiduciary business, prevention, and transparency. Fiduciary firms must have technical, legal, and technological capabilities to perform their contractual obligations diligently.

Duties of Fiduciary Companies:

Fiduciary companies must act with professional diligence, keep financial consumers informed, provide information to contractually defined recipients, render accounts, manage fiduciary risks, protect transferred or delivered assets, seek best execution in asset sales or acquisitions where applicable, and maintain conflict-of-interest policies.

Information and Digital Channels:

The decree expressly permits a joint information mechanism, including digital channels, provided the information is easy to access and preserves security and integrity. Information must remain available and be sufficient, true, clear, timely, and understandable.

Risk Matrices:

Contracts must include a risk matrix identifying fiduciary risks managed by the fiduciary and non-fiduciary risks identified by the fideicomitente or encargante. The SFC will determine the update frequency and the events that trigger communication of the matrix to information recipients.

Real Estate Fiduciary Business:

For fiduciary businesses used in real estate projects, fiduciary firms must verify that the fideicomitente or encargante has an interventoría mechanism for the project. The decree clarifies that the interventor’s relationship is with the fideicomitente, encargante, or developer, and that the interventor’s functions do not form part of the fiduciary service or fiduciary contract.

Contract Approval and Reporting:

Standard-form and mass-service fiduciary contracts must be evaluated by the SFC before execution, with the purpose of protecting consumers and preventing abusive clauses. Fiduciary firms must also report the classification and typologies of fiduciary businesses to the SFC.

Types of Fiduciary Business:

The decree recognizes five types: fiducia en garantía, fiducia de administración, fiducia de inversión, fiducia inmobiliaria, and fiducia with social security system resources or related resources.

Implications for Clients:

Fiduciary companies should update contract templates, disclosure procedures, risk-management policies, conflict-of-interest rules, digital information channels, and reporting systems. Real estate developers and project sponsors should prepare clearer documentation on project controls, interventoría, non-fiduciary risks, construction status, financing sources, and investor-facing information. Fund managers, private credit funds, and structured finance providers should review whether existing trust structures allocate fiduciary and non-fiduciary risks clearly and whether valuation, investment-result disclosures, and information rights are sufficiently documented.

Next Steps:

Clients should begin a gap analysis against Decree 510, prioritize updates to new contracts, and monitor the SFC’s implementing instructions, which must be issued within 12 months of the decree’s entry into force. Existing fiduciary businesses remain governed by the rules in effect when executed, but new structures should be designed with the decree’s requirements in mind.

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