19 Nov 25 New Merger Control Regime in Argentina

By Agustín L. Cerolini, Natalia R. Artmann and Tomás Mingrone

By means of Decree No. 803/2025, published in the Official Gazette on November 13, 2025, the regulations of Law No. 27,442 on the Defense of Competition (the “Competition Law”) were amended, marking a turning point for the antitrust regime in Argentina. Decree No. 803/2025, which replaces Sections 18 and 28 of Decree No. 480/2018, the one that regulates the Competition Law, provides that the National Competition Authority (the “NCA”) will begin to exercise its functions immediately upon being constituted, eliminating the previous 60 business-day transition period that delayed its full operability.

Furthermore, by means of Decree No. 810/2025, published in the Official Gazette on November 17, 2025, the Executive Branch formally constituted the NCA and appointed as its members: (i) Eduardo Montamat (President of the Competition Tribunal); (ii) Lucas Trevisani and Marcelo D’Amore (Commissioners); (iii) Ana Parente (Head of the Secretariat for Anticompetitive Conducts); and (iv) Germán Zamorano (Head of the Secretariat for Economic Concentrations). With these appointments, the NCA became formally empowered to immediately commence the exercise of its functions.

Consequently, the prior merger control system will enter into force one year after the appointment of the members of the NCA, that is, on November 17, 2026.

Transactions that close after that date will be subject to the new regime and, therefore, any economic concentration operation that exceeds the established thresholds and does not qualify under any exception must obtain the approval of the NCA before its materialization. This is a highly significant change, bearing in mind that since the creation of the merger control system in Argentina, transactions have always been reviewed after their closing.

Finally, with the creation of the NCA, the current “dual authority” system in Argentina (under which the National Commission for the Defense of Competition issued a recommendation that then had to be approved by the Secretariat of Commerce) will cease to operate. The concentration of decision-making powers in a single specialized authority, together with the new transparency and oversight standards, is expected to significantly improve the timing and efficiency of case review before the authority.