Expansion of Powers and Assignment of New Functions to the Financial Information Unit

Through the issuance of Decree No. 1936/2010 (the "Decree"), the Federal Government has assigned to the Financial Information Unit (“UIF”) the role of national representative before relevant international agencies that fight money laundering, and also that of coordinator at national, provincial and municipal levels of the local efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, with the power to lead relevant domestic agencies, such as the Central Bank, the National Securities Commission, the Superintendence of Insurance and the Federal Administration of Public Revenue.

By granting more powers to the UIF, the Federal Government aims to improve money laundering controls in Argentina, in response to the report that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued on October 22, which stressed that Argentina has not complied satisfactorily with the 40 + 9 recommendations issued by that agency.

The UIF may order the implementation of internal control systems by all the entities obliged to report suspicious activities, such as financial institutions, insurance companies and persons who habitually run games of chance. In addition, the UIF may ask the Attorney General's Office to request search warrants from the courts in order to carry out its investigations. To that same end, the powers assigned to the UIF through the Decree include procedures for monitoring, supervising and inspecting in situ entities that are obliged to report suspicious conducts and transactions to the UIF.

The Decree also reaffirms certain powers that the Argentine Congress had already granted to the UIF through the Anti-Money Laundering Law 25,246 and its amendments, thus evidencing the desire of the Federal Government to show its commitment to address the deficiencies identified in the report of the FATF.