Anti-Money Laundering – Guidelines for the Exchange of Information

The Financial Information Unit ("FIU") through its Resolution No. 30/2013 (the "Resolution") established guidelines for the exchange of information regarding money laundering and Terrorism Financing between: (i) the specific national control authorities -i.e., the Central Bank of Argentina, the Argentine Securities Exchange Commission and the Argentine Superintendence of Insurances-; (ii) the agencies that have the same function in other countries; and (iii) foreign Financial Intelligence Units or similar agencies.

The Resolution establishes that the FIU shall be the link entitled to centralize all the exchanged information between the abovementioned agencies.

With respect to national control authorities, it sets forth that any request of information should be submitted by the Compliance Officer of such agency directly to the FIU and through a secure electronic means. In the information request the following must be disclosed: (i) the reasons for the request; (ii) the recipient agency of such request; (iii) details of the requested information; (iv) a statement assuring that the information will only be used for the authorized purposes. After receiving such request, the FIU shall forward the request to the Compliance Officer of the agency requested, which must respond to such request by a secure electronic means and to the FIU (not to the requested agency), within a maximum period of ten days. In the event of deterrent to provide the requested information, the correspondent agency shall provide reasons for such deterrent to the FIU.

Regarding foreign agencies, the same procedure shall apply. In such case, the legal framework or agreement under which the request is made shall be indicated.

It has also been established that in all cases the FIU will explicitly mention the regulatory framework which protects the confidentiality and secrecy of the information provided, as set forth in the provisions of Section 22 of Law No. 25,246 and its amendments.

The Regulation set forth that it will enter into force 90 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, which occurred on February 18, 2013.