The Senate Approved a Bill that Grants Immunity to Foreign Central Banks and their Assets

On July 10, 2014 the Senate unanimously approved a bill that grants immunity from jurisdiction and enforcement to foreign central banks and their assets before Argentine courts (the “Bill”). The Bill was introduced in June by the Federal Executive Branch.
The Bill provides that foreign central banks or other foreign monetary authorities have immunity from jurisdiction before Argentine courts, although with certain exceptions. These exceptions are: (a) express written consent prior to the beginning of a dispute (either through an international treaty, a contract, or an arbitration agreement) or by means of a written statement after the beginning of said dispute, (b) a counterclaim based on the same legal issue or the same facts in the original lawsuit, or (c) when the lawsuit is based on an activity other than its specific functions. In this way, the Bill grants limited immunity to foreign central banks or other foreign monetary authorities similar to that provided by Law No. 24,488 regarding immunity from jurisdiction in favor of foreign states.
Additionally, the Bill grants immunity from enforcement and/or attachment before Argentine courts to the assets of a foreign central bank or a foreign monetary authority with respect to any action that could affect those assets. This immunity from enforcement is subject to reciprocity, meaning the immunity will be applicable provided that the assets of the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina, in its capacity as the national monetary authority, enjoy the same immunity under the law of the country to which the relevant foreign Central Bank or the foreign monetary authority belongs.
Finally, the Bill includes a definition of foreign monetary authority. In this vein, the Bill defines foreign monetary authority as the foreign government agencies in charge of designing, studying, implementing and adopting the necessary credit and exchange measures for regulating monetary circulation and liquidity of the exchange and financial markets as well as monitoring the normal operations of domestic and external payments in the economy, guarding the stability of the value of the currency.
The Bill seeks to enhance economic relations between Argentina and the rest of the world, and to enable the country to be considered as an investment place for other central banks.
It is reasonable to expect that the Bill will be approved shortly by the Chamber of Deputies.