The Antitrust Commission’s Opinion on Salary Payments in PBA

On January 24, 2025, the Antitrust Commission issued an opinion on the regulations governing the payment of wages to municipal employees, provincial public agencies and institutions, and subsidized educational establishments in the Province of Buenos Aires.

Following a formal request filed by the Mayor of the Province of Buenos Aires’ Tres de Febrero municipality, the Antitrust Commission analyzed article 7 of the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires’ (BAPRO) foundational document from a competition law standpoint. This article states: “Municipalities must implement the payment of wages to personnel through the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires by opening common savings accounts for each of the employees.”

The Antitrust Commission also analyzed article 1 of Law 14881, which states that “All public, autonomous, and decentralized agencies of the province, including subsidized private educational establishments, Municipalities, and their decentralized agencies, must implement the payment of wages to personnel through the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires by opening salary accounts for each employee at this public banking institution.”

The request for the Antitrust Commission to analyze these regulations is based on the claim that this prevents municipalities from obtaining better conditions with other financial entities, and that it would also prevent other economic agents from offering their services, thus limiting competition and harming both employers and employees who are forced to use a single banking institution.

Following its analysis, the Antitrust Commission considered that these regulations distort the market by imposing a mandatory relationship between municipalities and BAPRO. This exclusivity not only benefits the bank but also prevents municipalities from obtaining better conditions and restricts competition from other financial institutions in the market.

The Antitrust Commission emphasized that the obligation for municipalities to maintain an exclusive relationship with BAPRO has negative effects on competition, as it limits opportunities for other institutions and restricts municipal employees from choosing other alternatives, denying them the chance to access better savings conditions and services.

Therefore, on January 24, 2025, the Antitrust Commission issued an Opinion recommending modifying both articles to eliminate the restrictions that favor BAPRO, to ensure more equitable competition conditions among financial institutions operating in the Province of Buenos Aires, and allowing municipalities the opportunity to publicly, fairly, and non-discriminatorily tender the wage payment service.

As a result, through Resolution No. 9/2025, the Secretary of Industry and Trade, upon the recommendation of the Antitrust Commission, called for a review of the two laws that grant exclusivity to the BAPRO for the payment of municipal employees’ wages in the Province of Buenos Aires to restore competition. Furthermore, the Antitrust Commission’s opinion calls for a recommendation to the Executive Power of the province of Buenos Aires and the presidents of both houses of Congress to review the applicable regulations to modify them in this regard.

Through this opinion, the Antitrust Commission shows its interest in furthering competition in the financial sector.