On January 30, 2020, the Argentine Central Bank issued Communication “A” 6885 providing for regulations applicable to the activity of Payment Service Providers (PSPs). Below you will find a brief description of the most important features.
Communication “A” 6885 has excluded from the PSP legal framework the payment schemes that are governed by the rules of the Argentine Securities and exchange Commission (CNV) (among them, agents, markets and clearing houses’ operations) as well as such activities which main purpose is to retain and/or receive and make payments to the public sector.
Communication “A” 6885 also prohibits entities governed by the CNV (markets, clearing houses and agents) to operate as PSPs.
PSPs must be registered with the “Registry of Payment Service Providers that offer payment accounts” within 30 days since March 1, 2020. Since registration date, the PSP falls within the supervision of the Argentine Central Bank and will be liable, together with its authorities, under Sections 41 and 42 of the Financial Entities Law 21,526.
In order to register, a PSP must provide, among other information, the operational and commercial description of its payment structure and the identification of any person who holds at least 20% of share capital and/or votes of the entity or who, by other means, exercises final control, directly or indirectly, of the PSP (final beneficiaries).
Regarding customers cash management, Communication “A” 6885 made no changes, and the obligation to have the cash deposited in a local bank account (except for the sums invested in money market funds) remains.
Finally, Communication “A” 6885 creates obligations in connection with financial transparency. PSPs must indicate in all advertising that they are not financial entities and that the cash deposited (as it is not a deposit in a financial entity), does not fall within the argentine deposit guarantee system.
For further information, please do not hesitate to contact either Marcelo R. Tavarone, Federico Salim, Julieta De Ruggiero, Juan Pablo Bove, Federico Otero, Julián Razumny, Agustín Griffi, or Pablo Tarantino.