Further Adjustments to Foreign Exchange Regulations through Communiques “A” 6882, 6883 and 6903

Communiques “A” 6882, 6883 and 6903 introduced some of the latest adjustments.

Effective as of January 31,2020, the Argentine Central Bank (the “BCRA”, after its acronym in Spanish) established that, in those cases when the foreign importer is a company controlled by the Argentine exporter where exports with a total value higher than the equivalent of USD 50,000,000 have been recorded in the immediately preceding calendar year, and the goods correspond to certain tariff positions, the Argentine exporter may request the financial institution in charge of monitoring the export to extend the deadline to comply with its mandatory repatriation obligation up to 120 calendar days.

In addition, effective as of January 3, 2020, provisions regarding access to the FX market by non-Argentine residents were modified. They established that the purchase of foreign currency bills from non-Argentine residents which are individuals for tourism and travel by up to a maximum amount equivalent to USD 100 will not require prior BCRA approval, if the local financial institution can verify that the client has sold an amount in foreign currency higher than or equal to the one they wish to acquire for Argentine pesos in the FX market within the previous 90 calendar days.

The BCRA also implemented a series of adjustments to the rules on import payments and other purchases of goods abroad to make the condition of importers who register late payments in the Import Payment Tracking System (the “SEPAIMPO”, after its acronym in Spanish) more flexible.

Moreover, and effective as of January 3, 2020, the BCRA provided that, in addition to having elements that allow it to guarantee the reasonableness of the amounts to be paid considering the client's import activity in recent years and/or business plans submitted by the importer, “in the event that the client is not an individual and has been incorporated up to 365 calendar days before the date of access to the foreign exchange market, to proceed with new payments BCRA prior approval will be required when the amount pending of regularization for advance payments of imports is higher than the equivalent of USD 5 million, including the amount for which access to the foreign exchange market is requested ”.

A condition was also established, except in certain cases, that as a requirement for access to the FX market, the client must not register delays in the regularization of payments with pending customs registry entry, which are made as of 09.02.2019.

Lastly, effective as of January 3, 2020, the BCRA established that “prior BCRA approval will be required when the client registers, for transactions prior to 09.02.19, a conviction or summary proceeding pending for violations of Article 1 subsection c) of Law 19,359 regarding payment regimes for imports of goods”, considering, to such extent, “verdicts issued for up to 5 (five) years prior to the date of the operation”.