14 Abr 25 Further progress in the foreign exchange relaxation process

By Agustín L. Cerolini, Martín Chindamo and Tomás Mingrone

As a complement to Communication “A” 8226 issued by the Argentine Central Bank (hereinafter, the “BCRA” for its acronym in Spanish) on April 11, 2025 – which marked the beginning of Phase 3 of the Economic Program (see note here: https://ceroliniferrari.com.ar/a-big-step-towards-the-lifting-of-the-foreign-exchange-restrictions/) (several authorities and agencies of the Argentine Government (including the Executive Branch, the Federal Agency for Revenue and Customs Control (hereinafter the “ARCA”, for its acronyms in Spanish), the Argentine Securities Commission (hereinafter the “CNV”, for its acronyms in Spanish), and the BCRA) enacted new regulatory measures aimed at further advancing the ongoing foreign exchange liberalization process.

I) Repeal of the Programa de Incremento Exportador.

By means of Decree No. 269/2025, the Executive Branch repealed Decree No. 28/2023, thus eliminating the “Export Increase Program” (Programa de Incremento Exportador), which had allowed exporters to settle up to 20% of the proceeds of their foreign trade transactions through securities transactions involving foreign currency settlement (commonly known as “contado con liquidación” or “CCL”).

As a result, the general foreign exchange regime established by Decree No. 609/2019 is reinstated. This regime requires exporters of goods and services to transfer and settle the total amount of foreign exchange proceeds through the local foreign exchange market within the timeframes set forth by the BCRA.

In line with this repeal, the BCRA issued Communication “A” 8227, introducing amendments to its Foreign Exchange Rules (hereinafter, the “FX Rules”), including:

(i) The removal of the second paragraphs of Sections 2.2.1, 7.1.1, and 7.1.3 of the FX Rules, which had allowed exporters of services covered by Decree No. 28/2023 to transfer 80% of the foreign currency proceeds to the local foreign exchange market and use the remaining 20% for transactions involving securities purchased with foreign currency and sold with settlement in Argentine pesos.

(ii) The elimination of Section 15.3 of the FX Rules, which had extended this mixed-settlement mechanism to goods exports covered by the MERCOSUR Common Nomenclature.

II) Elimination of advance tax witholdings on foreign currency purchases.

In turn, General Resolution No. 5672/2025 issued by ARCA repealed the advance income tax and personal assets tax withholding regime on foreign currency purchases by Argentine resident individuals and indivisible estates.

This repeal does not apply to the following cases, where the regime remains in force:

(i) Foreign currency purchases made through credit cards abroad;

(ii) Acquisition of services provided by non-residents; and

(iii) Hiring of tourism services for trips abroad.

III) Removal of the “Parking” Requirement for Resident Individuals.

Lastly, through General Resolution No. 1062, the CNV eliminated the one-business-day minimum holding period – known as the “parking” requirement – applicable to resident individuals for:

(i) The sale of marketable securities with foreign currency settlement; and

(ii) The transfer of such securities (both inbound and outbound) to and from foreign depositories.