CNV Restricts Outbound Blue Chip Swaps

The Argentine Securities Commission (the “CNV”, after its acronym in Spanish) issued Resolution No. 841, published in the Official Gazette on May 26, 2020, establishing a minimum holding period of five (5) business days, counted as of the date on which the securities were credited in the depository entity, as a prior requirement for the sale of securities against foreign currency, or the transfer of such securities to depository entities abroad.

The minimum holding period does not apply in the following cases:

(i)         where securities are purchased with foreign currency and such same securities are sold for foreign currency and settled in the same jurisdiction as the one in which the purchase was made; and

(ii)        where securities are purchased and settled abroad and sold against foreign currency in Argentina, except in certain cases.

Compliance with the minimum holding period must be verified by the intervening local broker/dealers and brokers (Agentes de Liquidación y Compensación and Agentes de Negociación, respectively).

It is worth noting that the minimum holding period of five (5) business days already applied to transactions carried out by natural persons (and not to legal entities) who purchased securities with foreign currency and wanted to sell them for pesos or transfer them to other depository entities (inbound blue chip swaps), by rule of l Resolution No. 810 which remains in full force and effect.