On January 9, 2020, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic issued Communication “A” 6859 (the “Communication”). The Communication establishes a partial regulation of the activities of Payment Service Providers (“PSP”), this is, of those legal persons that, without being financial entities, fulfill at least one function within a retail payment scheme, such as offering freely disposable accounts to their clients to make or receive payments, within the framework of a global payments system.
The Communication establishes the following obligations to be fulfilled by the PSP´s, which must be carried out, at most, by January 31, 2020:
- Provide for client funds to be, at all times, immediately available for an amount equivalent to, at least, the amount credited in the payment account, with the PSP systems having to identify and individualize the funds of each client;
- Deposit 100% of the funds of its clients, at all times, in peso denominated accounts located in financial institutions within Argentina;
- Upon the request of its clients, transfer the balance in the payment account to the realization of operations with “common money funds” in the country; and
- Carry out all PSP transactions (payment of suppliers, salaries, etc.) through separate accounts to those where the funds of their clients are deposited.
Likewise, the communication establishes that in the event of non-compliance with any of the aforementioned obligations, the sanctions established in articles 41 and 42 of the Financial Entities Law, and concordant provisions, will be applicable to the PSPs and the members of their administrative/control bodies.
For more information, do not hesitate to contact Juan Pablo Bove, Federico Otero, Julián Razumny, Agustín Griffi, Pablo Tarantino, or to corporate@trsym.com.