Anti-corruption Plan: Initiatives to Prevent Money Laundering

On April 11, 2019, Decree No. 258/2019 was published in the Official Gazette. This Decree approves the “National Anti-corruption Plan (2019-2023)” and instructs the Anti-Corruption Office (the “OA”, after its acronym in Spanish) to create an “ad-honorem” Advisory Council, with the prior involvement of the Institutional Strengthening Secretariat, to follow up on the implementation of the initiatives set forth in said plan (the “PNA”, after its acronym in Spanish).

The PNA consolidates the main objectives outlined in 2016 by the National Executive Power in line with line with several international conventions of the UN, the OAS and the OECD against corruption, organized crime and money laundering.

Among the main institutional advances in terms of anti-corruption are the recent reforms that improved the efficiency of the work carried out by the Argentina’s Financial Intelligence Unit     (the “UIF”, after its acronym in Spanish) and, especially, changed the regulatory perspective, which allowed the change from a formalistic approach to one based on risks, in accordance with the guiding criteria in the international standards issued by the International Financial Action Task Force (the “GAFI”, after its acronym in Spanish). This change updated the management of money laundering and terrorism financing risks.

Likewise, we highlight the following initiatives on anti-money laundering, which are included in the PNA, among others:

1. Regulatory approach based on risks: it is expected that by 2022 the regulatory guidelines of a risk-based approach will include the obligated subjects set forth in Section 20 of Law No. 25,246 (the “Obligated Subjects”).

2. Amendment to the penalty scheme: it is expected that by 2021 the administrative penalty scheme applicable to the Obligated Subjects will be updated.

3. Strengthening of the UIF’s institutional framework: the PNA suggests protecting and organizing hierarchically the work of the UIF’s analysts who prepare the financial intelligence reports, as well as of the employees and directors of the Obligated Subjects and increase the protection of the UIF’s information and operations through a special protection standard by 2022. Moreover, the PNA suggests reinforcing the UIF’s capacity to apply effective, proportional and dissuasive sanctions and its ability to exchange information in a broad sense with the private sector.