Repatriation of assets held abroad by Argentine residents

Through Resolution No 574/2008 -published in the Official Gazette on October 28, 2008- the Argentine Ministry of Economy exempted from the 30% Mandatory Deposit, provided in Subsections c) and d) of Section 4 of Decree No 616/2005 and Section 2 of Resolution No 365/2005 the transfer to Argentina and sale in the foreign exchange market of the amount of US$ 110,200,000 resulting from the sale of the shares of Visa Inc. (a Delaware Corporation) held by Visa Argentina S.A.

On October 27, 2008 Visa Argentina S.A. requested the Argentine Central Bank to be exempted from the 30% Mandatory Deposit clarifying that the funds repatriated would be allocated to the payment of dividends to its shareholders (most of them local financial entities) and income tax.

According to the whereas of the Resolution, the above mentioned foreign exchange transaction would not imply a new indebtedness for Argentina since it represents a repatriation of funds by Argentine residents and would be a means of financing the economy considering the non- speculative allocation of the funds.

The whereas also indicates that the Argentine Central Bank had pointed out the achievements made through Communications ‘A’ 4,687, ‘A’ 4,717 and ‘A’ 4,786, which had introduced certain requirements in order to avoid the use of this repatriation mechanism to transfer funds to Argentina from unidentified third parties, thus ensuring the transparency of transactions made by Argentine residents.