Foreign Exchange Market

FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET

On October 15, 2020, the Argentine Central Bank (Banco Central de la República Argentina) (“BCRA”) issued Communiqué “A” 7138, which introduced new cases for the application of export receivables pursuant to Communiqué “A” 7123 of the BCRA. In addition, new regulations were introduced regarding the payment of imports of goods pending Customs’ registration and the informative regime for foreign exchange transactions.

1. Application of Export Receivables

New cases for the application of export receivables were introduced - pursuant to item 1 of Communiqué “A” 7123 of the BCRA (see our legal update):

(i) new issuances of local debt securities, denominated and subscribed in foreign currency, with principal and interest payable in Argentina in foreign currency, provided that: a) the funds obtained have been exchanged into Pesos through the foreign exchange market (the “MLC”); and b) they have an average life of no less than 1 year considering principal and interest;

(ii) direct equity investment or new indebtedness aimed at complying with the refinancing plan established in item 7 of Communiqué “A” 7106 of the BCRA (see our legal update), provided that the funds obtained have been repatriated and exchanged into Pesos through the MLC; and

(iii) new issuances of local or foreign debt securities, issued as of October 9, 2020, aimed at complying with the refinancing plan established in the provision mentioned in item (ii) above, provided that they have an average life of no less than two (2) years.

2. Payment of Imports Pending Customs’ Registration

Apart from the current requirements to access the MLC for the payment of imports pending Customs’ registration, the importer must have the declaration made through the Imports’ Monitoring Integral System (SIMI) in “Exit” status, in such cases where said declaration is required to register the application for consumption imports’ destination. This requirement is also applicable to local financial entities when accessing the MLC for the payment of letters of credit or endorsed letters for imports of goods issued as of October 16, 2020.

In addition, as of November 2, 2020, the payment of imports of goods pending Customs’ registration made between September 2, 2019 and October 31, 2019, will be deemed to be delayed if they are not regularized and they correspond to:

(i) payments against the submission of shipping documentation;
(ii) payments of foreign commercial debt (transactions where the purchasing terms agreed between the exporter and the importer have been met); and
(iii) payments of commercial guarantees of imports of goods granted by local entities.

Importers with delays in the regularization of such transactions will not be able to make new advanced payments until the situation is regularized.

3. Informative Regime for Foreign Exchange Transactions

The amount from which financial entities must report the outflows through the MLC to the BCRA, pursuant to the informative regime for foreign exchange transactions, was reduced from US$ 500,000 to US$ 50,000.

Should you need further information, do not hesitate to contact Fermín Caride, María Victoria Funes, María Victoria Tuculet and/or Lucía Carro.