CNV Moves to Centralize Securities Custody through the CSDA

On December 29, 2021, the Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission (the “CNV,” after its acronym in Spanish) issued for public consultation General Resolution No. 916 (the “Draft Resolution”) to centralize through the Central Securities Depository Agent (the “CSDA,” after its acronym in Spanish) the custody of securities admitted to trading in markets authorized by the CNV, adding certain requirements to the current regulatory framework and extending the scope of its functions.

The Draft Resolution modifies the activities that Registry and Payment Agents (“RPAs,” after their acronym in Spanish) may perform, limiting them to registration services of securities not admitted to trading in authorized markets, except for futures, options and derivative contracts with authorized trading in such markets, with the ability to act as depositor in the CSDA.

The Draft Resolution mainly sets forth the following:

• RPAs may provide the administrative management service of the yields and payments of registered instruments, to the extent that they comply with the procedures approved by the CNV.
• RPAs deposit promissory notes and electronic credit invoices for SMEs (the “Invoices”) in a custody account of their ownership, as depositors in the CSDA, with identification of the client and/or beneficiary owner.
• Invoices are to be credited in a principal subaccount and depositor account in the CSDA for trading in the markets authorized by the CNV, as well as if such markets contract the tools or computer systems outlined in Article 12 of Law No. 27,440.
• Invoices to be negotiated under any authorized modality in which a market registered by the CNV does not participate may be transferred to a CSDA and/or an RPA.
• The CSDA may have custody of the promissory notes and Invoices, regardless of the field in which they were acquired by the investor, a clarification equally valid for the deferred payment check, notwithstanding its special transfer and/or negotiation and custody regime under Law No. 24,452.

Finally, the Resolution establishes that only corporations duly incorporated in Argentina that comply with the formalities and requirements established by CNV regulations may apply for authorization to operate as CSDA and RPA.