Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Economy Pro le of Dominican Republic Doing Business 2018 Indicators (in order of appearance in the document) Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company Dealing with construction Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and permits safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, the reliability of the electricity supply and the transparency of tariffs Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance Paying taxes Payments, time and total tax rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as post-filing processes Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for insolvency Labor market regulation Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. Page 2   for insolvency Doing Business Labor market 2018 regulation Dominican FlexibilityRepublic in employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. The ranking of 190 economies is determined by sorting the aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Ease of Doing Business in Latin America & DB 2018 Rank Region 190 1 Caribbean Dominican Republic Income Category Upper middle income 99 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) Population 10,648,791 0 100 GNI Per Capita (US$) 6,390 60.93 City Covered Santo Domingo DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 72.27: Mexico (Rank: 49) 68.85: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 64) 67.27: Jamaica (Rank: 70) 60.93: Dominican Republic (Rank: 99) 58.66: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) Page 3   aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More Doingabout 2018 (PDF, Doing Business Business 5MB) Dominican Republic Ease of Doing Business in Latin America & DB 2018 Rank Region 190 1 Caribbean Dominican Republic Income Category Upper middle income 99 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) Population 10,648,791 0 100 GNI Per Capita (US$) 6,390 60.93 City Covered Santo Domingo DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 72.27: Mexico (Rank: 49) 68.85: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 64) 67.27: Jamaica (Rank: 70) 60.93: Dominican Republic (Rank: 99) 58.66: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 38.24: Haiti (Rank: 181) Note: The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - Dominican Republic 1 28 62 59 55 79 82 96 Rank 108 105 109 116 121 136 136 149 163 190 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Distance to Frontier (DTF) on Doing Business topics - Dominican Republic 100 83.23 83.51 80 71.73 64.74 65.67 57.45 60 DTF 51.67 48.71 45.00 37.59 40 20 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:+12.56 Change:+0.06 Change:0.00 Investors Change:-2.41 Borders Change:0.00 Change:+14.04 Change:+0.71 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Change:+0.27 Starting a Business Page 4   a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:+12.56 Change:+0.06 Change:0.00 Investors Change:-2.41 Borders Change:0.00 Change:+14.04 Change:+0.71 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Change:+0.27 Starting a Business This topic measures the paid-in minimum capital requirement, number of procedures, time and cost for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in economy’s largest business city. To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The distance to frontier score for each indicator is the average of the scores obtained for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and operate a To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions company (number) about the business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay Pre-registration (for example, name verification no bribes. or reservation, notarization) Registration in economy’s largest business city The business: - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than Post-registration (for example, social security one type of limited liability company in the economy, the most common registration, company seal) among domestic rms is chosen. Information on the most common form is Obtaining approval from spouse to start business obtained from incorporation lawyers or the statistical o ce. or leave home to register company - Operates in the economy’s largest business city and the entire o ce Obtaining any gender-specific permission that space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). For 11 can impact company registration, company economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. operations and process of getting national - Is 100% domestically owned and has ve owners, none of whom is a legal identity card entity; and has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a Time required to complete each procedure turnover of at least 100 times income per capita. (calendar days) - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does Does not include time spent gathering not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle products subject information to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It does not use Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 heavily polluting production processes. procedures cannot start on the same day) - Leases the commercial plant or o ces and is not a proprietor of real Procedures fully completed online are recorded estate and the amount of the annual lease for the o ce space is equivalent as ½ day to 1 times income per capita. Procedure is considered completed once final - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special bene ts. document is received - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. No prior contact with officials - Has a company deed 10 pages long. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of The owners: income per capita) - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, Official costs only, no bribes they are assumed to be 30 years old. No professional fees unless services required by - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. law or commonly used in practice - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) - Where the answer di ers according to the legal system applicable to the Funds deposited in a bank or with third party woman or man in question (as may be the case in economies where there before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Standardized Company Page 5   before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Standardized Company Legal form Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (SRL) Paid-in minimum capital requirement DOP 100,000 City Covered Santo Domingo Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Procedure – Men (number) 7 8.4 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 16.5 31.7 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 14.5 37.5 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Procedure – Women (number) 7 8.5 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 16.5 31.8 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 14.5 37.5 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 33.9 2.1 8.7 0.00 (113 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 97.30: Jamaica (Rank: 5) 91.29: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 47) 85.84: Mexico (Rank: 90) 83.23: Dominican Republic (Rank: 116) 78.09: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 33.70: Haiti (Rank: 189) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Starting a Business in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 12 16 14 10 ost (% of income per capita) 12 8 10 Time (days) 8 6 6 4 Page 6   4 starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Starting a Business in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 12 16 14 10 Cost (% of income per capita) 12 8 10 Time (days) 8 6 6 4 4 2 2 0 0 1 2 *3 4 5 6 *7 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Details – Starting a Business in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Verify the availability of the company name Less than one day included in Agency : ONAPI (O cina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial) (online procedure) procedure 2 The availability of the proposed company name must be veri ed by business founders. This can be done online at www.onapi.gov.do. 2 Purchase of the company name 5 days DOP 4755 Agency : ONAPI (O cina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial) After the petition or request of the registration of a commercial or trade name is made, the National O ce of Industrial Property (ONAPI) has a time limit of ve business days to issue the Formal Certi cate. Then, the company name announcement is published in a national circulation newspaper in about 10 days. The National O ce of Industrial Property publishes the list of requested corporate names and their petitioners twice a month. After that publication, third parties may lodge protests within 45 days. The publication receipt su ces for the company to continue with subsequent simultaneous formalities. The publication can also be made in the virtual portal of www.onapi.gov.do (o cina nacional de propriedad industrial-national- Intellectual Property). However, most companies do not use this online service. Since December 31, 2012, the cost for publication was uni ed with the cost to check and purchase the company’s name. This uni cation was due to Page 7   article 114 of the Law no. 20 00 and article 74 of the Decree Law no. 326 06 (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Starting a Business in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Verify the availability of the company name Less than one day included in Agency : ONAPI (O cina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial) (online procedure) procedure 2 The availability of the proposed company name must be veri ed by business founders. This can be done online at www.onapi.gov.do. 2 Purchase of the company name 5 days DOP 4755 Agency : ONAPI (O cina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial) After the petition or request of the registration of a commercial or trade name is made, the National O ce of Industrial Property (ONAPI) has a time limit of ve business days to issue the Formal Certi cate. Then, the company name announcement is published in a national circulation newspaper in about 10 days. The National O ce of Industrial Property publishes the list of requested corporate names and their petitioners twice a month. After that publication, third parties may lodge protests within 45 days. The publication receipt su ces for the company to continue with subsequent simultaneous formalities. The publication can also be made in the virtual portal of www.onapi.gov.do (o cina nacional de propriedad industrial-national- Intellectual Property). However, most companies do not use this online service. Since December 31, 2012, the cost for publication was uni ed with the cost to check and purchase the company’s name. This uni cation was due to article 114 of the Law no. 20 00 and article 74 of the Decree Law no. 326 06 and the current cost is DOP 4,755.  3 Payment of the incorporation tax 1 day 1% of the capital Agency : Tax Authorities (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) (simultaneous with previous The relevant incorporation taxes are paid by certi ed check issued to the procedure) Collector of the Internal Revenue Department (Colector de Impuestos Internos), through online banking (BHD and Leon banks) or at the counter at Banco del Progreso. The incorporation tax can also be paid directly at the Internal Revenue Service o ce (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) and Banco de Reservas. If the amount does not exceed DOP 10,000, it can be paid in cash. 4 Register the company in the Chamber of Commerce and obtain the 3 days DOP 8,000 identi cation number (RNC) online Agency : Chamber of Commerce The company must be registered at the Chamber of Commerce of the domicile of the company. In Dominican Republic the domicile of the company is where the e ective center of administration and management of the company is located. The following documents have to be led at the Mercantile Registry at the Chamber of Commerce: - Bylaws properly signed; - General Constitutive Assembly with its corresponding list of presence of Page 8   Service o ce (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) and Banco de Doing Reservas. Business If the 2018amount does not exceed Dominican DOP 10,000, it can be paid in cash. Republic 4 Register the company in the Chamber of Commerce and obtain the 3 days DOP 8,000 identi cation number (RNC) online Agency : Chamber of Commerce The company must be registered at the Chamber of Commerce of the domicile of the company. In Dominican Republic the domicile of the company is where the e ective center of administration and management of the company is located. The following documents have to be led at the Mercantile Registry at the Chamber of Commerce: - Bylaws properly signed; - General Constitutive Assembly with its corresponding list of presence of Associates; - List of the distribution of each of the associate’s investment to the company and their corresponding amounts of corporate quotas; - Application Form for registration of Limited Liability Company, duly completed and signed by the authorized manager or agent (must attach original power of attorney, if applicable). - Association Partnership Agreement; - Receipt of payment of incorporation taxes; - Photocopies of identity card; - Copy of Business Name Registration issued by the National O ce of Industrial Property (ONAPI). In December 2013, the Chamber of Commerce made company registration available online at http://www.formalizate.gob.do/. This electronic method of registration is not widely used in practice, but it is available to business entrepreneurs in Santo Domingo. 5 File for the National Taxpayers Registry at the Tax Authorities (DGII) and 6 days no charge apply for scal receipts Agency : Tax Authorities (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) According to Decree 254–06, companies that render services or whose operations require the transfer of goods must issue receipts with a scal number (numero de comprobante scal). The application can be made online. Within 5 working days, the Tax Authorities must analyze the information and notify the taxpayer (either physically or electronically) of the administrative resolution of the authorization to issue the scal receipts. The application for the National Taxpayers Registry can be made online, through the DGII’s webpage. After this, physical documents must be led at the DGII`s o ces. 6 Register employees with the Department of Labor 2 days DOP 500 Agency : Department of Labor Forms DGT-3 must be completed within the rst week of employment. The following forms, found at the local Department of Labor o ce, must be led: a list of permanent personnel and employee work schedules and vacation periods. This procedure can be completed only once the taxpayer's identi cation number has been obtained. 7 Register employees at the Social Security O ce (Tesorería de la 1 day no charge Seguridad Social) (simultaneous with Agency : Social Security O ce (Tesorería de la Seguridad Social) previous Page 9   procedure) This procedure can be completed only once the taxpayer's identi cation Doing number been obtained. has 2018 Business Dominican Republic 7 Register employees at the Social Security O ce (Tesorería de la 1 day no charge Seguridad Social) (simultaneous with Agency : Social Security O ce (Tesorería de la Seguridad Social) previous procedure) The company shall registered and le the list of its employees at the Social Security National Treasury (Tesorería Nacional de la Seguridad Social, TNSS), a dependency of the main social security o ce (Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Social, CNSS). Under Law 87-01, employers must register employees at the CNSS within 3 days of hiring them or upon the start of business. This procedure can be done online: http://www.tss.gov.do/ or at the Tesorería Nacional de la Seguridad Social. Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required noti cations, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. online are an exception to this rule - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of Procedure is considered completed once final approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each oor will document is received be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of No prior contact with officials approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a warehouse value) licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as Official costs only, no bribes obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures. Building quality control index (0-15) Page 10   - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative Sum of the scores of six component indices: Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required noti cations, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. online are an exception to this rule - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of Procedure is considered completed once final approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each oor will document is received be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of No prior contact with officials approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a warehouse value) licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as Official costs only, no bribes obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures. Building quality control index (0-15) - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative Sum of the scores of six component indices: and regulatory requirements). Quality of building regulations (0-2) The water and sewerage connections: Quality control before construction (0-1) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer Quality control during construction (0-3) tap. If there is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole Quality control after construction (0-3) will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built. Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an Professional certifications (0-4) average wastewater ow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater ow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day. - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater ow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Standardized Warehouse Page 11   and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse DOP 14,747,281.00 City Covered Santo Domingo Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 15 15.7 12.5 7.00 (Denmark) Time (days) 184 191.8 154.6 27.5 (Korea, Rep.) Cost (% of warehouse value) 2.8 3.2 1.6 0.10 (5 Economies) Building quality control index (0-15) 13.0 8.8 11.4 15.00 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 71.73: Dominican Republic (Rank: 62) 68.28: Mexico (Rank: 87) 67.22: Jamaica (Rank: 98) 63.59: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 60.17: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 138) 44.15: Haiti (Rank: 177) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1.2 180 160 1 Cost (% of warehouse value) 140 120 0.8 Time (days) 100 0.6 80 60 0.4 40 0.2 20 0 0 1 2 *3 *4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 12   component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1.2 180 160 1 Cost (% of warehouse value) 140 120 0.8 Time (days) 100 0.6 80 60 0.4 40 0.2 20 0 0 1 2 *3 *4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 14 13.0 11.7 12.0 12 10.0 10 8.8 Index score 8 6 5.0 4 2 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Request a certi cate to use the land and a certi cate of no objection 1 day DOP 500 ("Certi cado de uso de suelo", "certi cado de no objecion") and receive inspection by the Municipal Council (Departamento de Planeamiento Urbano) Agency : Municipal Council (Departamento de Planeamiento Urbano) Following the Doing Business case study assumptions and based on Resolution 5/2004 one needs to request a certi cate to use the land and also obtain a certi cate of no objection prior to obtaining the construction permit. Moreover, in order to obtain the certi cate to use the land an inspection by the Municipal Council is required (the o cial cost for this inspection is DOP 500.00.). Page 13   The land-use certi cate confers the right to build on the plot, but it does not Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Request a certi cate to use the land and a certi cate of no objection 1 day DOP 500 ("Certi cado de uso de suelo", "certi cado de no objecion") and receive inspection by the Municipal Council (Departamento de Planeamiento Urbano) Agency : Municipal Council (Departamento de Planeamiento Urbano) Following the Doing Business case study assumptions and based on Resolution 5/2004 one needs to request a certi cate to use the land and also obtain a certi cate of no objection prior to obtaining the construction permit. Moreover, in order to obtain the certi cate to use the land an inspection by the Municipal Council is required (the o cial cost for this inspection is DOP 500.00.). The land-use certi cate confers the right to build on the plot, but it does not authorize construction. The certi cate ensures that the project conforms to zoning regulations. The certi cate of no objection is a certi cate which according to your project plans, elevations and sections approves and appoints the urban design parameters. The request must be accompanied by several documents related to the land, including: • A copy (simple, unnotarized) of the real property deed for the plot (does not have to be recently obtained) • A cadastral plan • A map of the project’s location and a rst draft of the project design drawings 2 Obtain a certi cate to use the land and a certi cate of no objection 15 days DOP 6,000 ("certi cación de uso de suelo" y "certi cación de no objeción" ) Agency : Municipal Council (Departamento de Planeamiento Urbano) According to Resolution 5/2004, the cost to obtain a certi cate to use the land is DOP 1,000 and the cost to obtain the certi cate of no objection is DOP 5,000. 3 Obtain a soil test study report 11 days DOP 156,508 Agency : Private Firm A soil study is a requirement by law(Ministerio de Salud Pública. Guía para el diseño y la construcción estructural y no estructural) to obtain a building permit and it is a requirement for other procedures. In practice contractors ask for a soil test to ensure that the foundation of the building is solid. The engineer must understand the suitability of the soil for the proposed construction work. Soil test allows to build a solid foundation and avoid structures to be damaged or collapsed or leaned. 4 Obtain a topographical map 7 days DOP 35,000 Agency : Private Engenieer While a topographic survey is a requirement to obtain a building permit or required by law. Also, in practice the contractors will need a topographical survey to draw the site plan. Page 14   construction work. Soil test allows to build a solid foundation and avoid Doing structures Business to be damaged 2018 or collapsed Dominican or leaned. Republic 4 Obtain a topographical map 7 days DOP 35,000 Agency : Private Engenieer While a topographic survey is a requirement to obtain a building permit or required by law. Also, in practice the contractors will need a topographical survey to draw the site plan. 5 Request and obtain approval of project design drawings by the 21 days DOP 97,545 Municipal Council Agency : Municipal Council (Departamento de Planeamiento Urbano del Ayuntamiento de la jurisdicción correspondiente) The request for approval of the project design drawings must be accompanied by several documents, including the property deed, the cadastral plan, and project design drawings, certi ed by an architect or engineer registered at the Dominican College of Engineers and Architects (CODIA) by the corresponding Municipal Council. BuildCo must request an inspection upon ling the project drawings. This is a prerequisite for other procedures. Once the request is approved by the Municipal Council, the Municipality forwards the request to the Ministry of Public Works and Communications. The Ministry then grants a construction license for the project. The license is granted to the project itself and not to BuildCo. During this process, BuildCo must follow up with both agencies to ensure license processing. Construction must commence within 1 year from the date of issuance of the license. According to Resolution #5 2004 of the National District O ce (Ayuntamiento del Distrito Nacional de Santo Domingo) the o cial cost for the construction of a warehouse is DOP 75.00 per sq. m. For a warehouse of 1300.6 sq. m. the total cost will be DOP 97,545.00. 6 Receive pre-registration inspection (preinspeccion) by the Ministry of 1 day no charge Public Works and Communications (Departamento de Inspeccion de Edi caciones Privadas) Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Departamento de Inspeccion de Edi caciones Privadas) According to article 86 of the Regulations for the Supervision and General Inspection of Work (R-0004 Reglamento para la Supervision e Inspeccion General de Obras), all projects which have been subject to the review and approval of project design drawing by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (O cina de Tramitacion de Planos) must be previously inspected (pre-registration) to verify that the construction has not started. 7 Request and obtain construction permit from the Ministry of Public 90 days DOP 96,629 Works and Communications Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Comunicaciones) Fees are paid once the license has been approved and the project has been valued by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (O cina de Tramitacion de Planos). The formula used by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications to determine the project value (is DOP 16,510.20 per sq. m (1,300.6 sq. m. x DOP 16,510 = DOP 21,473,166.12). Thus, the applicable administrative fees (based on a project value of 21,473,166.12 DOP ) to obtain the construction permit are as follows: • Fee for the Municipality, equivalent to 2.5 X 1,000 of the construction cost: Page 15   DOP 53,682.9 Communications (O cina de Tramitacion de Planos) must be previously Doing inspected Business (pre-registration) 2018 Dominican to verify that the construction has not started. Republic 7 Request and obtain construction permit from the Ministry of Public 90 days DOP 96,629 Works and Communications Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Comunicaciones) Fees are paid once the license has been approved and the project has been valued by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (O cina de Tramitacion de Planos). The formula used by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications to determine the project value (is DOP 16,510.20 per sq. m (1,300.6 sq. m. x DOP 16,510 = DOP 21,473,166.12). Thus, the applicable administrative fees (based on a project value of 21,473,166.12 DOP ) to obtain the construction permit are as follows: • Fee for the Municipality, equivalent to 2.5 X 1,000 of the construction cost: DOP 53,682.9 • Fee for the Dominican College of Engineers and Architects (CODIA), equivalent to 2 X 1,000 of the construction cost: DOP 42,946.3 TOTAL: DOP 96,629.2 BuildCo must present a copy of receipts for both payments made to the Ministry of Public Works and Communications in order to obtain the construction permit. 8 Receive an inspection before the lintel (zapata) of the project is made 1 day DOP 232 Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Departamento de Inspeccion de Edi caciones Privadas) The inspection is carried out by an inspector from the Private Buildings Inspection Department (Departamento de Inspeccion de Edi caciones Privadas) of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications. All required inspections are set out in the Regulations for the Supervision and General Inspection of Work (R-0004 Reglamento para la Supervision e Inspeccion General de Obras). BuildCo must complete an online application form and bring it to the Ministry of Public Works and Communications to schedule the inspection. 9 Receive an inspection before the space between galleries (entrepiso) is 1 day DOP 232 completed Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Departamento de Inspeccion de Edi caciones Privadas) BuildCo. receives an inspection before the space between galleries (entrepiso) is completed 10 Receive an inspection before the roof of the project is completed 1 day DOP 232 Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Departamento de Inspeccion de Edi caciones Privadas) Once the contruction is in the last stages, BuildCo. receives an inspection before the roof of the project is completed. 11 Request water and sewage connection 1 day no charge Agency : Corporation of Aqueduct and Sewage System of Santo Domingo (CAASD) After the nalization of the work, BuildCo. requests water and sewage connection. 12 Receive on-site inspection for water and sewage connection 1 day no charge Agency : Corporation of Aqueduct and Sewage System of Santo Domingo (CAASD) Page 16   Due to the prior request, buildCo. receives an inspection in order to receive After the nalization of the work, BuildCo. requests water and sewage Doing connection. Business 2018 Dominican Republic 12 Receive on-site inspection for water and sewage connection 1 day no charge Agency : Corporation of Aqueduct and Sewage System of Santo Domingo (CAASD) Due to the prior request, buildCo. receives an inspection in order to receive the utilities connections. 13 Receive water and sewage connection 45 days DOP 25,632 Agency : Corporation of Aqueduct and Sewage System of Santo Domingo (CAASD) A contract must be executed with the Corporation of Aqueducts and Sewage System of Santo Domingo. 14 Notify the Ministry of Public Works and Communications of building 1 day no charge completion Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Dirección de Edi cación de la Secretaría de Estado de Obras Públicas) After utilities are connected, BuildCo. noti es to the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Dirección de Edi cación de la Secretaría de Estado de Obras Públicas) the completion of the work. 15 Receive nal inspection 5 days DOP 1,160 Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Departamento de Inspeccion de Edi caciones Privadas) Once noti ed of construction completion, the Ministry of Public Works undertakes a nal on-site inspection. Usually, the inspectors visit the site in about a week or so. To obtain the nal inspection, BuildCo must pay internal taxes of DOP 1,160.00 ( ve times the tax of DOP 232.00). This inspection veri es if the transit regulations have been ful lled and examines the roof’s impermeability, the sanitary installations, the electrical installations,the door, oor, and window installations, and security safety ( re). Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 13.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) architect; Licensed Page 17   engineer. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 13.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) architect; Licensed engineer. Quality control during construction index (0-3) 2.0 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during Inspections by 1.0 construction? (0-2) in-house engineer; Inspections at various phases. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 1.0 inspections are always done in practice. Quality control after construction index (0-3) 3.0 Is there a nal inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in Yes, nal 2.0 accordance with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) inspection is done by government agency; Yes, in- house engineer submits report for nal inspection; Final inspection is not required by law. Do legally mandated nal inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 1.0 always occurs in practice. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 1.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Page 18   Professional in Liability Doing 2018 regimes and insurance Business index (0-2) Dominican Republic 1.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover No party is 0.0 possible structural aws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect required by law Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) to obtain insurance ; Insurance is commonly taken in practice. Professional certi cations index (0-4) 4.0 What are the quali cation requirements for the professional responsible for verifying Minimum 2.0 that the architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building number of years regulations? (0-2) of experience; University degree in architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer. What are the quali cation requirements for the professional who supervises the Minimum 2.0 construction on the ground? (0-2) number of years of experience; University degree in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer. Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining Page 19   The warehouse: architect or engineer. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the receiving all necessary inspections data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is purchasing material for these works in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not Concluding any necessary supply contract and near a railway. obtaining final supply - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the rst time. Time required to complete each procedure - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square (calendar days) meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 Is at least 1 calendar day square meters (10,000 square feet). Each procedure starts on a separate day Does not include time spent gathering The electricity connection: information - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, Reflects the time spent in practice, with little when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). follow-up and no prior contact with officials - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or Cost required to complete each procedure (% of medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or income per capita) underground, whichever is more common in the area where the Official costs only, no bribes warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10- meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out Value added tax excluded on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property The reliability of supply and transparency of because the warehouse has access to a road. tari s index (0-8) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been completed up to and including the customer’s service Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) panel or switchboard and the meter base. Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) Tools to restore power supply (0–1) The monthly consumption: Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 (0–1) a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the Price based on monthly bill for commercial cheapest supplier. warehouse in case study - Tari s e ective in March of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although March has 31 days, for * N o t e : Doing Business m e a s u r e s t h e p r i c e o f calculation purposes only 30 days are used. electricity, but it is not included in the distance to frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 20   Standardized Connection frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 21.3 Name of utility EDESUR City Covered Santo Domingo Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 7 5.5 4.7 2 (United Arab Emirates) Time (days) 67 66.0 79.1 10 (United Arab Emirates) Cost (% of income per capita) 248.6 927.4 63.0 0.00 (Japan) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff 4 4.2 7.4 8.00 (28 Economies) index (0-8) Figure – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 76.94: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 69) 71.11: Jamaica (Rank: 91) 70.99: Mexico (Rank: 92) 70.45: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 64.74: Dominican Republic (Rank: 108) 55.40: Haiti (Rank: 138) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 250 60 200 Cost (% of income per capita) 50 Time (days) 40 150 30 100 20 50 10 Page 21   getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 250 60 200 Cost (% of income per capita) 50 Time (days) 40 150 30 100 20 50 10 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 *7 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 8 7 7 7 6 Index score 5 4 4 4.2 4 3 2 1 0 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain approval of electrical plans from EDESUR 30 calendar days DOP 5,000 Agency : Edesur A certi ed electrician hired by the client designs the interconnection plans and sends them to EDESUR for approval. In those plans the electrician speci es the nature of the transformer to be installed. Two copies of the plans need to be submitted to the nearest commercial o ce of EDESUR to the neighborhood of the warehouse. EDESUR analyses the interconnection plans and suggest corrections. It would require on average two to three visits to EDESUR to correct plans. A tax of RD$ 2,500 must be paid at the time of submission of the application by Page 22   the client and RD$ 1,500 for any further visit for submission of corrected Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain approval of electrical plans from EDESUR 30 calendar days DOP 5,000 Agency : Edesur A certi ed electrician hired by the client designs the interconnection plans and sends them to EDESUR for approval. In those plans the electrician speci es the nature of the transformer to be installed. Two copies of the plans need to be submitted to the nearest commercial o ce of EDESUR to the neighborhood of the warehouse. EDESUR analyses the interconnection plans and suggest corrections. It would require on average two to three visits to EDESUR to correct plans. A tax of RD$ 2,500 must be paid at the time of submission of the application by the client and RD$ 1,500 for any further visit for submission of corrected plans. An additional RD$ 1,000 for project review is also charged. When the nal connections have been approved, the client will have to submit 6 copies of the plans and EDESUR will give only 5 stamped copies back to the client. 2 Hire electrician to carry out external works 7 calendar days DOP 578,500 Agency : Electrician Once the interconnection plans have been approved by EDESUR, the electrician previously hired by the client, will proceed to build the electric system (medium voltage net, substation, meter, etc.) 3 Receive external inspection by EDESUR 7 calendar days DOP 0 Agency : Edesur EDESUR comes to check that the works follow the approved plan and raises observations to correct those works which do not follow the approved plans. The client must request the inspection when he considers everything is ready for interconnection. The rst inspection do not bear any cost, but EDESUR charges RD$ 500 for each inspection after the third one. EDESUR delivers a letter of approval (carta de Aceptación de la Obra). 4 Receive interconnection estimate from EDESUR 7 calendar days DOP 1,000 Agency : Edesur The interconnection estimate contains the cost that the client must pay to EDESUR to carry out the interconnection works to the electricity distribution network. The client must submit the nal letter of approval of EDESUR, two copies of the approved plans, a CD with the approved plan in DWG, a letter of request of estimate and he has to pay a stamp duty of RD$ 1,000.00. 5 Pay taxes to the professional association CODIA 1 calendar day DOP 5,000 Agency : CODIA After receiving the interconnection estimate from EDESUR, the client must pay the stamp duty at CODIA. The client must pay within 3 months. After payment has been done, EDESUR will carry out the interconnection works. 6 Receive external works from EDESUR 15 calendar days DOP 25,000 Agency : Edesur Interconnection works are carried out by EDESUR with a TCT team (Brigada Page 23   pay the stamp duty at CODIA. The client must pay within 3 months. After Doing payment Businesshas been done, 2018 EDESUR will Dominican carry out the interconnection works. Republic 6 Receive external works from EDESUR 15 calendar days DOP 25,000 Agency : Edesur Interconnection works are carried out by EDESUR with a TCT team (Brigada de Trabajo Con Tensión). If the works cannot be carried out with full voltage, EDESUR will stop the energy in the circuit and will charge that cost to the client. 7 Sign supply contract with EDESUR and receive meter installation 7 calendar days DOP 118,590.08 Agency : Edesur The client has to open a user account with EDESUR. The client has to deposit an amount which is reimbursed at the cancelation of the contract. The deposit equals twice the client's bill in RD$ and it is calculated on the basis of the capacity declared by the client or as a percentage of the substation capacity which would go between 60 to 80%. Law 125-01 establishes a payment of monthly interest for the deposit but this dispositions have not been implemented yet. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 4 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 0 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 79.1 System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 30.9 What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 3.0 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on Yes reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 1 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online http://www.sie.gob.d o/index.php? Page 24   option=com_content Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Getting Electricity in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 4 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 0 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 79.1 System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 30.9 What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 3.0 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on Yes reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 1 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online http://www.sie.gob.d o/index.php? option=com_content &view=article&id=10 0; http://www.edesur.c om.do/ Are customers noti ed of a change in tari ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of Page 25   infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions property (number) about the parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, The parties (buyer and seller): paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). Registration procedures in the economy's largest - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. business citya. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest Postregistration procedures (for example, filling business city. title with municipality) - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. Time required to complete each procedure - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. (calendar days) - Perform general commercial activities. Does not include time spent gathering information The property (fully owned by the seller): - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. Each procedure starts on a separate day - though - Is fully owned by the seller. procedures that can be fully completed online - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for are an exception to this rule the past 10 years. Procedure is considered completed once final - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title document is received disputes. No prior contact with officials - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters property value) (6,000 square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in Official costs only (such as administrative fees, good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety duties and taxes). standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its entirety. payments are excluded - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the Quality of land administration index (0-30) purchase. - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) monuments of any kind. Transparency of information index (0–6) - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for Geographic coverage index (0–8) residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required. Land dispute resolution index (0–8) - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Standard Property Transfer Property value DOP 14,747,281.00 City Covered Santo Domingo Page 26   Dominican Latin America & OECD high Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Standard Property Transfer Property value DOP 14,747,281.00 City Covered Santo Domingo Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 6 7.2 4.6 1.00 (4 Economies) Time (days) 45 63.3 22.3 1.00 (3 Economies) Cost (% of property value) 3.4 5.8 4.2 0.00 (5 Economies) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 14.5 12.0 22.7 29.00 (Singapore) Figure – Registering Property in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 65.67: Dominican Republic (Rank: 79) 60.81: Mexico (Rank: 99) 55.36: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 53.70: Jamaica (Rank: 128) 47.19: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 153) 32.22: Haiti (Rank: 180) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 45 3.5 40 3 35 Cost (% of property value) 2.5 30 Time (days) 25 2 20 1.5 15 1 10 0.5 5 0 0 1 *2 *3 4 5 6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 27   Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Registering Property in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 45 3.5 40 3 35 Cost (% of property value) 2.5 30 Time (days) 25 2 20 1.5 15 1 10 0.5 5 0 0 1 *2 *3 4 5 6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Registering Property in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 18 16.3 16 14.5 14.0 13.5 14 12.0 12 Index score 10 8 6 4 2.5 2 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Registering Property in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a judicial status certi cate from the title Registry O ce. 15 - 20 days DOP 1,040 (DOP Agency : Title Registry O ce (simultaneous with 1,000, plus stamp Procedure 2 and 3) duties for DOP 30 A non-encumbrance certi cate ("Certi cado del Estado Jurídico del (Law 91/83) and DOP Inmueble") must be obtained from the Title Registry O ce in order to ensure 10 (Law 33/91) that the property has no liens and there are no other con icts related to it. The time varies in each district. In Santo Domingo it takes about 15-20 days, while in the interior of the country it is faster. The fees to obtain this certi cate were increased in September 2015 by decision of the Council of the Judiciary laid down in the minutes No. 25/2015 of June 15th 2015. 2 Site inspection to establish the exact location of the property 2 days DOP 5,000 – 12,000 Page 28   Agency : Surveyor (agrimensor) (simultaneous with Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Registering Property in Dominican Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a judicial status certi cate from the title Registry O ce. 15 - 20 days DOP 1,040 (DOP Agency : Title Registry O ce (simultaneous with 1,000, plus stamp Procedure 2 and 3) duties for DOP 30 A non-encumbrance certi cate ("Certi cado del Estado Jurídico del (Law 91/83) and DOP Inmueble") must be obtained from the Title Registry O ce in order to ensure 10 (Law 33/91) that the property has no liens and there are no other con icts related to it. The time varies in each district. In Santo Domingo it takes about 15-20 days, while in the interior of the country it is faster. The fees to obtain this certi cate were increased in September 2015 by decision of the Council of the Judiciary laid down in the minutes No. 25/2015 of June 15th 2015. 2 Site inspection to establish the exact location of the property 2 days DOP 5,000 – 12,000 Agency : Surveyor (agrimensor) (simultaneous with Procedure 1 and 3) A surveyor ("agrimensor") inspects the site in order to establish the exact location of the property. This is not mandatory, but a way the buyer has to protect against potential problems. 3 Obtain the appraisal of the property and the tax certi cate at the 5 to 7 days DOP 300 to obtain Dirección General de Impuestos Internos (Tax Authority) (simultaneous with the tax certificate Agency : Tax Authority (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) 1 and 2) The parties must request the valuation of the property for the payment of the transfer tax. A certi cate is also obtained at the DGI stating that the real estate taxes are up to date. 4 Notarization of the sale purchase agreement 1 day Notarization fee of Agency : Notary DOP 50,000. After the agreement is reached and the documentation has been exchanged Fee schedule to by the parties, the sale purchase agreement must be notarized by the public Notarize the sale notary. The Notary can no longer freely establish his fees after the agreement is the enactment of the Notarial Law No. 140-15 (which institutes the Dominican following: Bar of Notaries (Colegio Dominicano de Notarios) in August 2015. The Notaries have the obligation to observe the schedule of fees set forth in this law which are: From DOP 1,000.01 to DOP 100,000.00: DOP 3,000.00; Art. 66: For every hour of service: DOP 1,000. After three hours, DOP 2,000 From DOP per hour. 100,000.01 to DOP 200,000.00: DOP 5,000.00; Art. 66 A) Sale and purchase agreement fee schedule: From DOP 200,000.01 to DOP 500,000.00: DOP Between DOP 1000.01 to DOP 100,000: DOP 3,000 10,000.00; From DOP Between DOP 100,000.01 to DOP 200,000: DOP 5,000 500,000.01 to DOP 1,500,000.00: DOP Between DOP 200,000.01 to DOP 500,000: DOP 10,000 20,000.00; From DOP Between DOP 500,000.01 to DOP 1,500,000: DOP 20,000 1,500,000.01 to DOP 3,000,000.00: DOP Between DOP 1,500,000.01 to DOP 3,000,000: DOP 25,000 25,000.00; Page 29   From DOP 20,000.00; From DOP Doing Between BusinessDOP 500,000.01 2018 to DOP 1,500,000: Dominican Republic DOP 20,000 1,500,000.01 to DOP 3,000,000.00: DOP Between DOP 1,500,000.01 to DOP 3,000,000: DOP 25,000 25,000.00; From DOP Between DOP 3,000,000.01 to DOP 5,000,000: DOP 30,000 3,000,000.01 to DOP 5,000,000.00: DOP Between DOP 5,000,000.01 to DOP 10,000,000: DOP 40,000 30,000.00; From DOP Between DOP 10,000,000.01 to DOP 20,000,000: DOP 50,000 5,000,000.01 to DOP Between DOP 20,000,000.01 to DOP 30,000,000: DOP 60,000 10,000,000.00: DOP 40.000.00; Between DOP 30,000,000.01 to DOP 40,000,000: DOP 70,000 From DOP 10,000,000.01 to DOP Between DOP 40,000,000.01 to DOP 50,000,000: DOP 80,000 20,000,000.00: DOP 50,000.00; Between DOP 50,000,000.01 to DOP 100,000,000: DOP 100,000 From DOP 20,000,000.01 to DOP Between DOP 100,000,000.01 to DOP 150,000,000: DOP 200,000 30,000,000.00: DOP 60,000.00; From DOP 30,000,000.01 to DOP 40,000,000.00: DOP 70.000.00; From DOP 40,000,000.01 to DOP 50,000,000.00: DOP 80,000.00; From DOP 50,000,000.01 to DOP 100,000,000.00: DOP 100,000.00; From DOP 100,000,000.01 to DOP 150,000,000.00: DOP 200,000.00; 5 Payment of taxes at the Dirección General de Impuestos (Tax Authority) 1 day 3% of property value Agency : Tax Authority (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) (transfer tax) After the inspection is over and the value of the property is calculated, a tax of 3% of the property value must be paid before the "Dirección General de Impuestos Internos" (Tax Authority) before registering the property transfer, by virtue of de “E ciencia Recaudatoria” Law No. 173-07 dated July 17th, 2007. If there is a di erence between the property value indicated in the purchase agreement and the one estimated by the Internal Revenue Department upon valuation, the higher value will be the one considered as valid for calculation of this transfer tax. However, said law provides an exemption of this tax in cases of transfer of real estate properties acquired by means of loans with nancial institutions and cooperatives, if such real estate property has a value under DOP$1,000,000.00 adjustable upon in ation. The property tax must be paid within the six (6) months following to the Sale Page 30   and Purchase Agreement entered by the parties. Otherwise, surcharges will DOP 150,000,000.00: Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic DOP 200,000.00; 5 Payment of taxes at the Dirección General de Impuestos (Tax Authority) 1 day 3% of property value Agency : Tax Authority (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) (transfer tax) After the inspection is over and the value of the property is calculated, a tax of 3% of the property value must be paid before the "Dirección General de Impuestos Internos" (Tax Authority) before registering the property transfer, by virtue of de “E ciencia Recaudatoria” Law No. 173-07 dated July 17th, 2007. If there is a di erence between the property value indicated in the purchase agreement and the one estimated by the Internal Revenue Department upon valuation, the higher value will be the one considered as valid for calculation of this transfer tax. However, said law provides an exemption of this tax in cases of transfer of real estate properties acquired by means of loans with nancial institutions and cooperatives, if such real estate property has a value under DOP$1,000,000.00 adjustable upon in ation. The property tax must be paid within the six (6) months following to the Sale and Purchase Agreement entered by the parties. Otherwise, surcharges will be applied. Surcharges amount to 10% of the sum not paid (the corresponding transfer taxes) for the rst month or fraction of the month. To any additional delays the Tax authorities will charge a 4% (per month or fraction) over the 10% plus a 1.73% indemnity (per month or fraction). Moreover, on July 10, 2009, Law 182-09 was enacted granting a tax exemption on the 2% that must be paid to record a mortgage. This exemption only applies when it is proved that a new loan/mortgage has been obtained to pay o an existing loan secured with the same land. Consequently, the former mortgage would be cancelled to record the new one, with no additional cost. Stamp duties are required to be paid by Law 33-91 and Law 91-83 as well before registering the deed. 6 Buyer les the property transfer request before the Title Registrar´s 20 - 30 days DOP 150 (DOP 100 O ce Notarial receipt (Law Agency : 5150 140/15), plus stamp duties of 30 DOP When ling request for property registration before the Title Registrar´s (Law 91/83), and DOP O ce, stamp duties are paid (Art. 13 of Law 140-2015: DOP 100 for the 20 (Law 33/91)) Notarial receipt; 30 DOP according to Law 91; and 20 DOP according to Law 33/91). Additionally, Article 42 (2) of Law 108/05 establishes a special contribution to the "Fondo de Garantía de Inmuebles Registrados" of DOP 5,000 to be paid every time a new Certi cate of Title is issued after a property transaction (in practice, this Fund has not been created yet and Registrars are not requiring them). After all payments have been made and all documents are ready, the buyer will apply for registration of the property under his name at the Property Registry. 140-201 Page 31   The registrar will analyze the documentation and, if everything is correct, will under his name at the Property Registry. Business 2018 Doing 140-201 Dominican Republic The registrar will analyze the documentation and, if everything is correct, will register the property under the name of the buyer, issue a new Certi cate of Title in the name of the buyer, cancel the old Certi cate and will set the date for giving the new title to the buyer. Because of the higher workload, this procedure takes longer in Santo Domingo and Santiago than in other provinces, taking between 20 and 30 days to complete this procedure. However, the “Ley de Registro de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria”, passed on March 2005 to replace the previous law from 1947, together with the "Reglamento General del Registro de Títulos" of September 2009, introduced changes into the system seen up to now. The registrar should take no more than 45 days to qualify the transfer. The led documentation shall include: (i) Notarized purchase agreement (obtained in Procedure 4). (ii) Real estate property taxes declaration; receipt of payment; and Certi cation issued by the Tax Authority stating the Seller is up to date on the payment of taxes on the real estate property (obtained in Procedure 5). (iii) Payment of stamp duties (completed in this procedure). (iv) Copy of identity documents for seller and buyer (such documents may vary whether seller and buyer are natural persons or companies). (v) Copies of their Mercantile Registration Certi cate ("Certi cado de Registro Mercantil") issued by the corresponding Chamber of Commerce, and (vi) Certi cate of registration at the National Taxpayers Registry ("RNC") issued by the Dirección General de Impuestos Internos (the Tax Authority) It should also be noted that the Buyer is also required to le the original copy of the Title Certi cate. Furthermore, if either Buyer and/or Seller are companies or legal entities, the authorities will require evidence of the corporate approval of the transaction (i.e. minutes of the meeting of the corporate body that has authorized the purchase/sale). Another relevant point is that if the Buyer and/or Seller are foreigners, they must present two di erent copy of their identity documents: their passport and any o cial identi cation from their country of origin. The land registry operates with the Torrens title system and is being digitized since 2005. All new transactions are completed digitally, but all titles created before 2005 are not digitized yet. The registry has consultation room units (“Departamento de sala de consultas”) where the registry’s electronic database is available. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 32   database is available. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Registering Property in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 14.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 6.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? O cina de Registro de Títulos In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Computer/Scann 1.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, Yes 1.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Dirección Nacional de Mensuras Catastrales In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Computer/Scann 1.0 in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing Yes 1.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the Di erent 1.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases but or in separate databases? linked Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use Yes 1.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 3.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Anyone who 1.0 immovable property registration in the largest business city? pays the o cial fee Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction Yes, online 0.5 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.ji.gov. do/images/Resol uciones/Resoluci on21-0313.pdf (page 3) http://ji.gov.do/in dex.php/atencio n-al- usuario/actuacio nes-y- requisitos/requis Page 33   itos-registro-de- Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Registering Property in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 14.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 6.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? O cina de Registro de Títulos In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Computer/Scann 1.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, Yes 1.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Dirección Nacional de Mensuras Catastrales In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Computer/Scann 1.0 in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing Yes 1.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the Di erent 1.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases but or in separate databases? linked Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use Yes 1.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 3.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Anyone who 1.0 immovable property registration in the largest business city? pays the o cial fee Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction Yes, online 0.5 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.ji.gov. do/images/Resol uciones/Resoluci on21-0313.pdf (page 3) http://ji.gov.do/in dex.php/atencio n-al- usuario/actuacio nes-y- requisitos/requis itos-registro-de- titulos/42- transferencia Page 34   Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction Yes, online 0.5 made Doing publicly available–and Business if so, how?Republic 2018 Dominican Link for online access: http://www.ji.gov. do/images/Resol uciones/Resoluci on21-0313.pdf (page 3) http://ji.gov.do/in dex.php/atencio n-al- usuario/actuacio nes-y- requisitos/requis itos-registro-de- titulos/42- transferencia Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, online 0.5 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.ji.gov. do/images/Resol uciones/Resoluci on21-0313.pdf (page 5) http://ji.gov.do/in dex.php/atencio n-al- usuario/pagos- de-tasas-por- servicios Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a Yes, in person 0.0 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a speci c time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: Are there publicly available o cial statistics tracking the number of transactions at the No 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2015: Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Freely accessible 0.5 by anyone Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available Yes, online 0.5 —and if so, how? Link for online access: http://ji.gov.do/in dex.php/atencio n-al- usuario/pagos- de-tasas-por- servicios Page 35   Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available Yes, online 0.5 —and Doing if so, how? Business 2018 Dominican Republic Link for online access: http://ji.gov.do/in dex.php/atencio n-al- usuario/pagos- de-tasas-por- servicios Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a Yes, in person 0.0 speci c time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? Contact information: Geographic coverage index (0–8) 0.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable No 0.0 property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the No 0.0 immovable property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? No 0.0 Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? No 0.0 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 5.5 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private Yes 0.5 guarantee? Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who Yes 0.5 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a Yes 0.5 property transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Registrar; Notary. Does the legal system require veri cation of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 transaction? If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Registrar; Notary. Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? Yes 1.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a Tribunal de property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the Jurisdicción largest business city, what court would be in charge of the case in the rst instance? Original Page 36   How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the rst-instance court for Between 2 and 3 1.0 Is there Doing a national Business database 2018 to verify the Dominican accuracy of identity documents? Republic Yes 1.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a Tribunal de property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the Jurisdicción largest business city, what court would be in charge of the case in the rst instance? Original How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the rst-instance court for Between 2 and 3 1.0 such a case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the rst instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2015: The "Tribunal de Jurisdicción Original" specializes in land dispute matters. Until October 2016: 3,225 disputes were lodged in Santo Domingo. Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Number of individuals and firms listed in credit only case A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set registry as a percentage of adult population of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. Page 37   - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Number of individuals and firms listed in credit only case A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set registry as a percentage of adult population of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned. The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests). In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 5.3 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 8 4.8 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Page 38   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 26.4 14.0 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 5.3 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 8 4.8 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 26.4 14.0 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 68.3 43.1 63.7 100.00 (23 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 90.00: Mexico (Rank: 6) 90.00: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 6) 80.00: Jamaica (Rank: 20) 50.94: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 45.00: Dominican Republic (Rank: 105) 10.00: Haiti (Rank: 177) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting credit. These scores are the distance to frontier score for the sum of the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in Dominican Republic and comparator economies 12 11 10 10 9 8 Index score 6 5.3 4 2 2 1 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Legal Rights in Dominican Republic Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Page 39   Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Legal Rights in Dominican Republic Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring No a speci c description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds No or replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and Yes obligations be secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is uni ed geographically No and by asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor's name? Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be No performed online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency No procedure? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? No Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised No reorganization procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and/or sets a time limit for it? Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law No allow the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt? Figure – Credit Information in Dominican Republic and comparator economies 10 8 8 8 7 7 Index score 6 4.8 4 2 0 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Credit Information in Dominican Republic Page 40   0 0 Republic Dominican Dominican2018 Doing Business HaitiRepublic Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Credit Information in Dominican Republic Credit Credit Depth of credit information index (0-8) bureau registry Score Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? Yes Yes 1 Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? Yes Yes 1 Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and financial institutions - Yes No 1 distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries that distribute more Yes Yes 1 than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.) Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? Yes Yes 1 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or credit registry? Yes Yes 1 Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online (for example, Yes Yes 1 through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)? Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help banks and financial Yes No 1 institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 8 Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0. Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry Number of individuals 4,559,302 1,766,079 Number of firms 64,758 23,401 Total 4,624,060 1,789,480 Percentage of adult population 68.3 26.4 Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple Page 41   transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, Percentage of adult population 68.3 26.4 Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple disgorgement of profits, fines, imprisonment, shareholders. rescission of the transaction) - Has a board of directors and a chief executive o cer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not speci cally Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to required by law. internal corporate documents; Evidence - Has a supervisory board (applicable to economies with a two-tier board obtainable during trial and allocation of legal system) on which 60% of the shareholder-elected members have been expenses appointed by Mr. James, who is Buyer’s controlling shareholder and a Extent of conflict of interest regulation index member of Buyer’s board of directors. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, - Has not adopted any bylaws or articles of association that di er from extent of director liability and ease of default minimum standards and does not follow any nonmandatory codes, shareholder indices principles, recommendations or guidelines relating to corporate Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): governance. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. decisions Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): The transaction involves the following details: Governance safeguards protecting shareholders - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer and elected two directors to Buyer’s ve- from undue board control and entrenchment member board. Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, retail hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. compensation, audits and financial prospects - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused eet of trucks to expand Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer Extent of shareholder governance index (0–10): agrees. The price is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the Simple average of the extent of shareholders market value. rights, extent of ownership and control and - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s ordinary course of extent of corporate transparency indices business and is not outside the authority of the company. Strength of minority investor protection index - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of and all required disclosures made (that is, the transaction is not interest regulation and extent of shareholder fraudulent). governance indices - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the other parties that approved the transaction. Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 5.7 5.3 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 4.7 4.1 6.4 Page 42   9.00 (Kazakhstan) and the other parties that approved the transaction. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 5.7 5.3 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 4.7 4.1 6.4 9.00 (Kazakhstan) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 58.33: Mexico (Rank: 62) 55.00: Jamaica (Rank: 81) 51.67: Dominican Republic (Rank: 96) 50.00: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 108) 47.24: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 20.00: Haiti (Rank: 188) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the extent of con ict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Dominican Republic 5 4 5 2 7 8 Haiti 0 3 2 1 2 4 Jamaica 6 8 4 4 6 5 Mexico 4 5 8 6 7 5 Puerto Rico (U.S.) 6 6 7 2 1 8 OECD high income 7.3 5.6 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 Latin America & Caribbean 4.1 5.4 4.4 3.4 5.6 6.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0­10) Extent of director liability index (0­10) Extent of disclosure index (0­10) Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Page 43   Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of con ict of interest regulation index (0-10) 5.7 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 5 Which corporate body is legally su cient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Board of 2.0 directors excluding interested members Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) No 0.0 Must Mr. James disclose his con ict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Existence of a 1.0 con ict without any speci cs Must Buyer disclose the transaction in published periodic lings (annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on 2.0 the transaction and on the con ict of interest Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public and/or shareholders? (0- No disclosure 0.0 2) obligation Extent of director liability index (0-10) 4 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue directly or derivatively Yes 1.0 for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold the interested director liable for the damage the transaction Liable if negligent 1.0 caused to Buyer? (0-2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused Liable if negligent 1.0 to Buyer (0-2) Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Must Mr. James repay pro ts made from the transaction upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disquali ed or ned and imprisoned upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Only in case of 0.0 fraud or bad faith Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 8 Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Page 44   Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction Doing 2018 (0-1) documents? Business Dominican Republic Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plainti request categories of documents from the defendant without No 0.0 identifying speci c ones? (0-1) Can the plainti directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) Yes 2.0 Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) Yes 1.0 Can shareholder plainti s recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0 Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 4.7 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 7 Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of Yes 1.0 shareholders? Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? Yes 1.0 Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new Yes 1.0 shares? Must shareholders approve the election and dismissal of the external auditor? Yes 1.0 Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the a ected Yes 1.0 shares approve? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, does the sale of 51% of its assets require No 0.0 member approval? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 10% call for a No 0.0 meeting of members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must all members consent to add a new Yes 1.0 member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member rst o er to sell their Yes 1.0 interest to the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 2 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chair of the board of No 0.0 directors? Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? No 0.0 Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the Yes 1.0 end of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising No 0.0 board members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% No 0.0 of Buyer? Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? No 0.0 Page 45   Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% No 0.0 of Buyer? Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? No 0.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? No 0.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve Yes 1.0 disagreements among members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a potential acquirer make a tender No 0.0 o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute pro ts within a No 0.0 maximum period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 5 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect bene cial ownership stakes representing 5%? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and No 0.0 directorships in other companies? Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? No 0.0 Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general Yes 1.0 meeting agenda? Must Buyer's annual nancial statements be audited by an external auditor? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? No 0.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must members meet at least once a year? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 5% put items on No 0.0 the meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with Page 46   post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Total number of taxes and contributions paid, and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply including consumption taxes (value added tax, with the requirements of post ling processes and time waiting. sales tax or goods and service tax) Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: Time required to comply with 3 major taxes - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January (hours per year) 1, 2015. It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes Collecting information, computing tax payable and contributions recorded are paid in the second year of operation Completing tax return, filing with agencies (calendar year 2016). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. Arranging payment or withholding Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2016, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the Total tax and contribution rate (% of pro t before machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally all taxes) spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income per Profit or corporate income tax capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess Social contributions, labor taxes paid by input VAT incurred in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive employer months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, sales and the machine and Property and property transfer taxes the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output VAT Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions in June 2016. taxes The corporate income tax audit process: Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect Post ling Index tax depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income Time to comply with a VAT refund tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily Time to receive a VAT refund noti ed the tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit 5% of the corporate income tax liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax Time to complete a corporate income tax audit return, but within the tax assessment period. Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 7 28.0 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Page 47   return, but within the tax assessment period. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 7 28.0 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 317 332.1 160.7 55 (Luxembourg) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 48.8 46.6 40.1 18.47% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 10.71 47.50 83.45 99.38 (Estonia) Figure – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 67.01: Mexico (Rank: 115) 65.67: Jamaica (Rank: 122) 60.16: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 57.55: Haiti (Rank: 147) 57.45: Dominican Republic (Rank: 149) 52.42: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 161) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores on the ease of paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the four component indicators – number of tax payments. time, total tax rate and post ling index – with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax rate. The nonlinear distance to frontier for the total tax rate is equal to the distance to frontier for the total tax rate to the power of 0.8. The threshold is de ned as the total tax rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 60 48.17 47.50 50 40.51 40 Index score 30 19.68 20 13.76 10.71 10 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate (% Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base of profit) on TTR Page 48   Corporate income tax 1 online 74 27% taxable profit 29.07 Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 60 48.17 47.50 50 40.51 40 Index score 30 19.68 20 13.76 10.71 10 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate (% Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base of profit) on TTR Corporate income tax 1 online 74 27% taxable profit 29.07 Employer paid - Pension 0 online and 80 7.1% gross 15.56 contributions jointly salaries Employer paid - Labor risk 0 online and 1.3% gross 1.47 insurance contributions jointly salaries Employer paid - Training tax 1 online 1% gross 1.13 (INFOTEP) salaries Tax on electronic transfers 1 online 0.15% per cheque 1.10 Employer paid - Health 1 online 7.09% gross 0.44 insurance contributions salaries Vehicle tax 1 online RD$ 2,500 fixed fee 0.02 Value added tax (VAT) 1 online 163 18% value added 0.00 not included Employee paid - Health 0 online and 3.04% gross 0.00 withheld insurance contributions jointly salaries Employee paid - Pension 0 online and 2.87% gross 0.00 withheld contributions jointly salaries Fuel tax 1 RD$ 6.3 fuel 0.00 per gallon consumption Totals 7 317 48.8 Details – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 29.1 Page 49   Totals 7 317 48.8 Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 29.1 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 18.6 Other taxes (% of profit) 1.1 Details – Paying Taxes in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Post ling index (0-100) 10.71 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? No Restrictions on VAT refund process Restricted to international traders Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) Not applicable Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) No VAT refund 0 per case study scenario Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) No VAT refund 0 per case study scenario Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 25% - 49% Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit (hours) 59.5 0 Time to complete a corporate income tax audit (weeks) 18.3 42.86 Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, pro t tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable. The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The post ling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Trading across Borders Page 50   a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tari s) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Given the importance of trade digitalization, in Doing Business 2018, the Trading across Borders questionnaire included research questions on the availability and status of implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Single Window (SW) systems. With this information, Doing Business built a comprehensive dataset on the adoption and level of sophistication of electronic platforms in 190 economies. These data are not used to compute the distance to frontier score or ranking of the ease of doing business. The new dataset on EDI and SW systems is available here. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 or border handling in origin economy days are recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are required by destination economy and any transit submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and economies can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance Covers all documents required by law and in would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 practice, including electronic submissions of hours. information Border compliance Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Customs clearance and inspections Contributors are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. than 20% of shipments) Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and Handling and inspections that take place at the are informed about exchange rates. economy’s port or border Assumptions of the case study: - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Domestic transport Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in the largest Loading or unloading of the shipment at the business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the warehouse or port/border largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each Transport between warehouse and port/border economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the Traffic delays and road police checks while largest value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each shipment is en route economy exports the product of its comparative advantage (de ned by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and the trading partner, as is the seaport, or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport, airport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 51   of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic government authorities. Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 16 62.5 12.7 0 (17 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 488 526.5 149.9 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance 10 53.3 2.4 1.0 (25 Economies) (hours) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 15 110.4 35.4 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 24 64.4 8.7 0.00 (21 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 579 684.0 111.6 0.00 (27 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance 14 79.9 3.5 1.0 (30 Economies) (hours) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 40 119.5 25.6 0.00 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 83.51: Dominican Republic (Rank: 59) 82.09: Mexico (Rank: 63) 81.86: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 64) 76.90: Haiti (Rank: 77) 68.71: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 61.54: Jamaica (Rank: 130) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import (domestic transport is not used for calculating the ranking). Figure – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 30 700 24 579 600 25 488 500 20 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 16 400 15 14 300 10 10 200 5 100 40 15 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary CompliancePage 52   Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 30 700 24 579 600 25 488 500 20 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 16 400 15 14 300 10 10 200 5 100 40 15 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Details – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic Characteristics Export Import Product HS 90 : Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, HS 8708: Parts and medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof accessories of motor vehicles Trade partner United States United States Border Caucedo port Caucedo port Distance (km) 46 46 Domestic 4 4 transport time (hours) Domestic 296 296 transport cost (USD) Details – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 6.6 200.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 4.2 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 16.0 287.5 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 6.8 262.5 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 5.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 24.0 316.7 Page 53   Details – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic – Trade Documents (USD) Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 6.6 200.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 4.2 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 16.0 287.5 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 6.8 262.5 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 5.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 24.0 316.7 Details – Trading across Borders in Dominican Republic – Trade Documents Export Import Bill of lading Bill of lading Certificate of origin Certificate of Origin Commercial invoice Commercial invoice Customs Export Declaration Customs import declaration SOLAS certificate SOLAS certificate Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) Page 54   - The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Case management (0-6) SOLAS certificate SOLAS certificate Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable assets. Standardized Case Claim value DOP 548,226.00 Court name Civil and Commercial Court of First Instance of the National District City Covered Santo Domingo Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Time (days) 590 767.1 577.8 164.00 (Singapore) Cost (% of claim value) 40.9 31.4 21.5 9.00 (Iceland) Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 5.5 8.4 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 67.01: Mexico (Rank: 41) 54.41: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 113) 53.13: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) Page 55   of judicial processes Quality Business Doing index (0-18) Republic 2018 Dominican 5.5 8.4 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 67.01: Mexico (Rank: 41) 54.41: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 113) 53.13: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 52.49: Haiti (Rank: 125) 51.87: Jamaica (Rank: 127) 48.71: Dominican Republic (Rank: 136) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 900 60 800 50.2 767.1 50 Cost (% of claim value) 700 40.9 42.6 630 590 577.8 600 530 550 40 Time (days) 31.4 33.0 500 30.2 30 400 341 21.5 300 20 200 10 100 0 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Latin America & Mexico OECD high income Puerto Rico (U.S.) Caribbean Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Dominican Republic 2 0.5 0 3 Haiti 2 0.5 0 4.5 Jamaica 2.5 1 0.5 4.5 Mexico 2.5 3.3 0.5 3.8 Puerto Rico (U.S.) 2 1.5 0.5 3 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 Latin America & Caribbean 2.4 2 0.9 3.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 Page 56   12 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Latin America & Mexico OECD high income Puerto Rico (U.S.) Caribbean Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Dominican Republic 2 0.5 0 3 Haiti 2 0.5 0 4.5 Jamaica 2.5 1 0.5 4.5 Mexico 2.5 3.3 0.5 3.8 Puerto Rico (U.S.) 2 1.5 0.5 3 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 Latin America & Caribbean 2.4 2 0.9 3.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0­3) Case management (0­6) Court automation (0­4) Court structure and proceedings (­1­5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic Indicator Time (days) 590 Filing and service 20 Trial and judgment 450 Enforcement of judgment 120 Cost (% of claim value) 40.9 Attorney fees 25 Court fees 7.5 Enforcement fees 8.4 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 5.5 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 3.0 Case management (0-6) 0.5 Court automation (0-4) 0.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.0 Details – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Page 57   Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.0 Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Enforcing Contracts in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 5.5 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 3.0 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? No 0.0 2. Small claims court 1.5 2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes 2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes 3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0 4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? Yes, but manual 0.5 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0 Case management (0-6) 0.5 1. Time standards 0.5 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? Yes 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? Yes 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? No 2. Adjournments 0.0 2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be No granted? 2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No 2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) No 0.0 time to disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? 4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the No 0.0 competent court? 5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court No 0.0 for use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court No 0.0 for use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 0.0 1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 the competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the No 0.0 competent court? Page 58   1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 Businesscourt? the competent Doing 2018 Dominican Republic 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the No 0.0 competent court? 3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? No 0.0 4. Publication of judgments 0.0 4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the No general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? 4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme No court level made available to the general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.0 1. Arbitration 1.5 1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? 1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public No order or public policy—that cannot be submitted to arbitration? 1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes 2. Mediation/Conciliation 0.5 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or No consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? 2.c. Are there nancial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., No if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Page 59   Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent Court fees in local currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over Fees of insolvency administrators the hotel’s real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes Lawyers’ fees enough money to operate otherwise. Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees In addition, Doing Business evaluates the adequacy and integrity of the Other related fees existing legal framework applicable to liquidation and reorganization Outcome proceedings through the strength of insolvency framework index. The index tests whether economies adopted internationally accepted good Whether business continues operating as a going practices in four areas: commencement of proceedings, management of concern or business assets are sold piecemeal debtor’s assets, reorganization proceedings and creditor participation. Recovery rate for creditors Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted Depreciation of furniture is taken into account Present value of debt recovered Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16) Sum of the scores of four component indices: Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 8.9 30.8 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 3.5 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Page 60   Creditor participation index (0-4) Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Dominican Latin America & OECD high Indicator Republic Caribbean income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 8.9 30.8 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 3.5 2.9 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 38.0 16.8 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 0 .. .. .. concern) Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 10.5 7.2 12.1 15.00 (6 Economies) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 84.20: Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Rank: 9) 72.31: Mexico (Rank: 31) 69.31: Jamaica (Rank: 35) 38.95: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean) 37.59: Dominican Republic (Rank: 121) 0.00: Haiti (Rank: 168) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 4 38.0 40 3.5 3.5 35 2.9 3 30 2.5 Cost (% of estate) Time (years) 2.5 25 2 18.0 16.8 1.8 18.0 1.7 20 1.5 15 1.1 11.0 9.1 1 10 0.5 5 0 0 Dominican Republic no practice Jamaica Latin America & Mexico OECD high income Puerto Rico (U.S.) Haiti Caribbean Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Dominican Republic 5.5 2.5 2 0.5 Page 61   Haiti 0 2 1 0 Dominican Republic no practice Jamaica Latin America & Mexico OECD high income Puerto Rico (U.S.) Haiti Caribbean Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Dominican Republic 5.5 2.5 2 0.5 Haiti 0 2 1 0 Jamaica 4.5 2.5 3 1 Mexico 5.5 2.5 2 1.5 Puerto Rico (U.S.) 6 3 3 3 OECD high income 5.4 2.8 2.3 1.9 Latin America & Caribbean 3.7 2.4 1.9 0.8 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0­6) Commencement of proceedings index (0­3) Creditor participation index (0­4) Reorganization proceedings index (0­3) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar) 80 67.6 69.4 70 64.9 60 50 40 30.8 30 20 8.9 10 0.0 0 Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Details – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding liquidation BizBank would initiate a foreclosing proceeding to avail itself of its security right. However, (after an Mirage will file a petition to initiate a collective insolvency proceeding of liquidation. A attempt at judgment opening insolvency proceedings will be handed down by the Court, along with the foreclosure) appointment of a liquidator. The liquidator would finalize the creditors' claims and prepare Mirage' assets for sale. Some or all of the proceeds of the sale are paid to BizBank. Outcome piecemeal sale The hotel won’t be able to continue operating and the assets of Mirage will be sold piecemeal. Time (in years) 3.5 The liquidation proceeding after an attempt at foreclosure would take about 3.5 years. The procedure would start by the Bank filing for foreclosure which will take around 6 months. The Court will adjudicate the status of bankruptcy of the debtor converting the foreclosure Page 62   procedure into a liquidation proceeding. This stage would take approximately 6 months. Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Mexico Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding liquidation BizBank would initiate a foreclosing proceeding to avail itself of its security right. However, (after an Mirage will file a petition to initiate a collective insolvency proceeding of liquidation. A attempt at judgment opening insolvency proceedings will be handed down by the Court, along with the foreclosure) appointment of a liquidator. The liquidator would finalize the creditors' claims and prepare Mirage' assets for sale. Some or all of the proceeds of the sale are paid to BizBank. Outcome piecemeal sale The hotel won’t be able to continue operating and the assets of Mirage will be sold piecemeal. Time (in years) 3.5 The liquidation proceeding after an attempt at foreclosure would take about 3.5 years. The procedure would start by the Bank filing for foreclosure which will take around 6 months. The Court will adjudicate the status of bankruptcy of the debtor converting the foreclosure procedure into a liquidation proceeding. This stage would take approximately 6 months. Afterwards, a liquidator will be appointed and the list of creditors’ claims will be issued. This stage will take from 1 to 1.5 years. The sale of the debtor’s assets may take up to 2 years. Cost (% of 38.0 The estimated cost would amount to approximately 38% of the value of Mirage’s estate. The estate) main component of this expense would be the attorney’s fees (17%), court expenses, notification costs and administrative fees (10 %), auctioneer fees (10 %), and other professionals, including accountants (1%) Recovery rate (cents on the 8.9 dollar) Details – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 10.5 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.5 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency (a) Debtor may 1.0 proceedings? le for both liquidation and reorganization Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? N/A 0.5 What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (c) Both (a) and 1.0 insolvency framework? (b) options are available, but only one of them needs to be complied with Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 5.5 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential Yes 1.0 goods and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome Yes 1.0 contracts? Page 63   dollar) Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Resolving Insolvency in Dominican Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 10.5 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.5 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency (a) Debtor may 1.0 proceedings? le for both liquidation and reorganization Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? N/A 0.5 What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (c) Both (a) and 1.0 insolvency framework? (b) options are available, but only one of them needs to be complied with Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 5.5 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential Yes 1.0 goods and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome Yes 1.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit Yes 1.0 after commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (a) Yes over all 0.5 pre- commencement creditors, secured or unsecured Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 0.5 Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? (a) All creditors 0.5 Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization No 0.0 receive at least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors devided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization No 0.0 plan, does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 2.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Page 64   Creditor Doing participation Business 2018 index (0-4) Dominican Republic 2.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial Yes 1.0 assets of the debtor? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request No 0.0 information from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to Yes 1.0 decisions accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for Page 65   work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave receive 100% of wages; (v) availability of ve fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Details – Labor Market Regulation in Dominican Republic Answer Hiring Page 66   Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Details – Labor Market Regulation in Dominican Republic Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes Maximum length of a single xed-term contract (months) No limit Maximum length of xed-term contracts, including renewals (months) No limit Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 334.7 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.4 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 3.0 Working hours Standard workday 8.0 Maximum number of working days per week 5.5 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 0.0 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 100.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 35.0 Restrictions on night work? No Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? Yes Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 14.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 18.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 18.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 16.7 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party noti cation if one worker is dismissed? No Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? No Third-party noti cation if nine workers are dismissed? No Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Page 67   Third-party Doing approval Business 2018 if nine workers are Dominican dismissed? Republic No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Priority rules for redundancies? No Priority rules for reemployment? No Redundancy cost Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 4.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 4.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 4.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 4.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 3.8 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 20.9 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 41.8 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 22.2 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? No Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? No Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 98.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? Yes Five fully paid days of sick leave a year? No Unemployment protection after one year of employment? No Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? n.a. Business Reforms in Dominican Republic In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Dominican Republic implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Starting a Business: The Dominican Republic reduced the time needed to register a company by streamlining processes at the chamber of commerce. Getting Electricity: The Dominican Republic improved the reliability of electricity by investing in grid expansion, redesigning network zoning and setting up a power restoration squad to respond to outages. Paying Taxes: The Dominican Republic made paying taxes costlier by decreasing the in ation rate. Resolving Insolvency: The Dominican Republic made resolving insolvency easier by adopting a law that introduces a Page 68   reorganization procedure and facilitates continuation of the debtor’s business during insolvency proceedings. The new law allows Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? n.a. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Business Reforms in Dominican Republic In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Dominican Republic implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Starting a Business: The Dominican Republic reduced the time needed to register a company by streamlining processes at the chamber of commerce. Getting Electricity: The Dominican Republic improved the reliability of electricity by investing in grid expansion, redesigning network zoning and setting up a power restoration squad to respond to outages. Paying Taxes: The Dominican Republic made paying taxes costlier by decreasing the in ation rate. Resolving Insolvency: The Dominican Republic made resolving insolvency easier by adopting a law that introduces a reorganization procedure and facilitates continuation of the debtor’s business during insolvency proceedings. The new law allows creditors greater participation in important decisions during insolvency proceedings. Labor Market Regulation: The Dominican Republic increased the mandatory length of paid maternity leave. DB2017 Getting Electricity: The Dominican Republic made getting an electricity connection faster by reducing the time required to approve electrical connection plans. Paying Taxes: The Dominican Republic made paying taxes less costly by decreasing the corporate income tax rate. DB2015 Dealing with Construction Permits: The Dominican Republic made dealing with construction permits more costly by increasing the building permit fees. Getting Credit: The Dominican Republic improved its credit information system by enacting a new law regulating the protection of personal data and the operation of credit reporting institutions. Protecting Minority Investors: The Dominican Republic strengthened minority investor protections by introducing greater shareholder rights and requirements for greater corporate transparency. Trading across Borders: The Dominican Republic made trading across borders easier by reducing the number of documents required for exports and imports. DB2013 Paying Taxes: The Dominican Republic increased the corporate income tax rate. DB2012 Starting a Business: The Dominican Republic made starting a business easier by eliminating the requirement for a proof of deposit of capital when establishing a new company. DB2011 Starting a Business: The Dominican Republic made it more di cult to start a business by setting a minimum capital requirement of 100,000 Dominican pesos ($2,855) for its new type of company, sociedad de responsabilidad limitada (limited liability company). DB2010 Protecting Minority Investors: The Dominican Republic strengthened investor protections through a new company law requiring greater corporate disclosure, director liability and shareholder access to information. Page 69   Doing Business 2018 DB2010 Dominican Republic Protecting Minority Investors: The Dominican Republic strengthened investor protections through a new company law requiring greater corporate disclosure, director liability and shareholder access to information. DB2009 Starting a Business: The Dominican Republic made starting a business easier and less costly by establishing an online facility for completing registration formalities and reducing the incorporation taxes. Registering Property: The Dominican Republic made registering property less costly by reducing and simplifying the taxes collected in property transactions. Paying Taxes: The Dominican Republic made paying taxes less costly as well as easier for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate; abolishing several taxes, including the stamp duty; and fully implementing online ling and payment, now used by most taxpayers. Trading across Borders: The Dominican Republic reduced the time for exporting and importing through improvements in the online portal for customs documents, in risk-based inspections and in the banking sector. DB2008 Starting a Business: The Dominican Republic reduced the time required to start a business by simplifying name registration and introducing online tax registration. Registering Property: The Dominican Republic made registering property easier by adopting several laws aimed at streamlining the process. Paying Taxes: The Dominican Republic made paying taxes more costly for companies by increasing employers’ social security contribution rate. Trading across Borders: The Dominican Republic made trading across borders easier by reducing the documentation requirements. Page 70   Trading across Borders: The Dominican Republic made trading across borders easier by reducing the documentation requirements. Doing Business 2018 Dominican Republic Page 71