Patrimonio autónomo (Autonomous Trust Estate)

A patrimonio autónomo (autonomous trust estate) is the pool of assets that, under a Colombian fiducia mercantil, is kept apart from the trust company's own assets and from its other businesses, and is dedicated solely to the purpose of the contract. Article 1233 of the Colombian Commercial Code (Código de Comercio) provides that the assets placed in trust must be kept separate from the rest of the trustee's assets and «form an autonomous estate dedicated to the purpose set out in the founding act». It is the piece that makes the Colombian fiducia mercantil work, the local version of the Latin American fideicomiso.

How it arises. In a fiducia mercantil, the settlor (fiduciante or fideicomitente) transfers one or more assets to a trustee, which undertakes to manage or dispose of them to fulfil the stated purpose, for the benefit of the settlor or of a third-party beneficiary (art. 1226 of the Commercial Code). The same article reserves the role of trustee to credit institutions and trust companies authorised by the former Superintendencia Bancaria, now the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, the financial supervisor (art. 1 of Decree 4327 of 2005).

What the separation protects.

• Against the trust company's creditors: the assets are not part of their general security and only answer for obligations incurred to fulfil the purpose (art. 1227).
• Against the settlor's creditors: they cannot pursue the assets unless their claims predate the creation of the trust (art. 1238).
• Against the beneficiary's creditors: they can only pursue the income the assets produce for the beneficiary (art. 1238).
• Limit: a trust set up to defraud third parties can be challenged (art. 1238).

What it is used for. The Superintendencia Financiera's Basic Legal Circular (reissued by External Circular 006 of 2025, Part II, Title II, Chapter I, section 8) and Decree 0510 of 2026 (art. 2.5.5.7.1 of Decree 2555 of 2010) recognise five types of fiducia: guarantee, administration, investment, real estate and social security funds. According to Asofiduciarias, in April 2026 administration trusts managed about 294 trillion pesos, guarantee trusts about 164 trillion and real estate trusts about 119 trillion in 7,626 contracts.

Autonomous estates and crowdfunding. Since Decree 34 of 2025, an autonomous estate can raise money on Colombian crowdfunding platforms (art. 2.41.1.1.1 of Decree 2555 of 2010), but only through debt securities, and its leverage limits are set by the trust contract (art. 2.41.1.1.2, paragraph 1). It can also invest as a contributor (art. 2.41.4.1.1).

Autonomous estates and tokenization. A token can represent rights over an autonomous estate, but Colombia has no tokenization statute today. Three layers need to be kept apart:

• Trust participations: if they are offered to the public or to 20 or more people, this counts as mass provision of the service and the contract model needs prior review by the Superintendencia Financiera (Basic Legal Circular, Part II, Title II, Chapter I, section 5.5; art. 146.4 of the Organic Statute of the Financial System).
• Securitisation: rights arising from a securitisation process are securities (art. 2(e) of Law 964 of 2005) and fall under securities market rules.
• Token custody: the Superintendencia Financiera holds that its supervised entities, trust companies included, are not authorised to hold crypto-assets in custody (Opinion 2020259314-001).

The full picture is in the guide to asset tokenization in Colombia, and the real estate case in real estate tokenization.

How it differs from an SPV. An SPV or special purpose vehicle is a company, with shareholders and directors. An autonomous estate has no shareholders: the trust company manages the assets and the law ring-fences them. When the trust ends, unless otherwise agreed, the assets return to the settlor or their heirs (art. 1242 of the Commercial Code), and any clause letting the trust company keep them for good is void (art. 1244).

Official sources: Colombian Commercial Code, arts. 1226 to 1244 (Función Pública); Decree 34 of 2025; Superintendencia Financiera, Opinion 2020259314-001. Framework verified as of 2 October 2026.