As part of the national sanitary emergency imposed due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Argentine Central Bank published today Communication “A” 6949 (the “Communication”), mandatorily extending the payment dates of financings granted by local financial institutions due between April 1st, 2020 and June 30, 2020.
The Communication establishes in point 4 that:
- Banks are prohibited to charge default interests during said period, and those financings will only accrue compensatory interests at the expected contractual rate.
- Amortizations and maturities that fall within that said period, excluding credit card payments, shall be postponed to the month immediately following the month in which the final maturity of the financing is due. In this case, it is our understanding that if the final maturity date of the financing occurs within the above-mentioned period, then such final maturity will be postponed to the same day of the immediately following month, even if such month is part of the above-mentioned period.
- Credit card payments due between April 1, 2020 and April 12, 2020 may be cancelled on April 13, 2020 for the same amount and without any surcharge.
- This Communication excludes any credit facilities granted to the financial sector entities.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Communication does not affect the bank’s right to accelerate payments and/or initiate legal collection actions, once each financing can be considered past due according to the regulation described above.
For further information, please contact Marcelo R. Tavarone, Federico Salim, or Julieta De Ruggiero.