Through Central Bank (BCRA), the National Securities Commission (CNV) and the Financial Reporting Unit (FIU), the Government launched a series of measures to control the escalation of the MEP Dollar and Settlement Count (CCL), following the sudden increase in the price on both instruments that, in recent days, reached over $110 per dollar.
The measures seek to incentivise savings in pesos and, on the other hand, to limit foreign currency transactions by the Open Common Investment Funds (FCIs), one of the main operators of these instruments.
In this regard, the Central Bank set an increase for the pass rate, which will rise from the current 11.4% to 15.2%, and decided that T0 or “money market” funds – those that pay interest but can be withdrawn at any time – would not fit, which would allow banks to offer higher remuneration for those deposits.
The measure was resolved at the Monetary Authority Board meeting for
improve the profitability of peso deposits and thus discourage dollar buying operations via CCL – which arises from buying shares in dollar-trading pesos abroad – or MEP – resulting from the purchase and sale of sovereign bonds trading in both currencies, such as the AY24, for example.
For its part, the CNV issued a Resolution (No. 835/20) in which
set a 25% limit on the tenure of dollars for both FCIs nominated in pesos and dollar nominees that have issued share parties in pesos. In that line, it suspended the subscription of share parts in a currency other than the investment fund currency and, in order to avoid harm to investors, set a step-by-step adequacy schedule for the oversized portfolios while exempting Funds under the “Asset Repatriation” regime.
In the same vein, to identify those who are conducting implied dollar purchase operations, the UIF
reminded financial institutions of their obligation to report large-volume transactions, those involving transfers abroad and from all concomitant accounts.
Through a statement, the UIF urged the entities to ”
responsibly comply with their obligations” and asked them to “exercise their collections aimed at properly assessing the risk factors of Money Laundering” after “actively observing the increase in the magnitudes in the Liquidation Count and MEP Dollar operations generated in recent weeks”.
In this line, he pointed out to the entities the obligation to systematically report the High Amount Cash Transaction Report (RTE), which includes
transactions made in local or foreign currency involving movements over $280,000.
It also recalled the obligation to file an International Transfer Report (RTI) for all transactions involving transfers of funds between country-based accounts and foreign-based accounts, as well as
the list of principal accounts and international transfers of marketable securities.
During the last few days, the price of the dollar implied in CCL and MEP trades, as they are known in the stock market, reached $115 per dollar,
a record for both quotes. The increase in both contributions began to register within days of the start of quarantine when, until March 26, their value purred at $85 per dollar.
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