Register of Criminal Records for Legal Entities for Corruption Crimes and Crimes against the Economic Order

According to the Disposition, the register will incorporate “in a progressive and consecutive manner digital testimonies of all communications sent by the criminal judges in regard to the sanctions they have established against private legal entities within the scope of Laws No. 26,733 and 27,401”. These laws are related to corruption crimes and crimes against the economic order.

The Disposition indicates what information of the sanctioned legal entities the judges must provide to identify them properly. The information must be registered “in fully digital records”.

Any communications and requests for reports filed with the Federal Register of Criminal Records must include the following: a) the court and secretary involved and the docket file number, b) courts and secretaries previously involved and the pertinent docket files numbers, c) name or trade name of the legal entity, d) first and last name of the legal representative and their ID number, professional registration number and registered domicile, e) data of registration in the pertinent Public Registry of Commerce, f) tax identification number , g) domicile of the legal entity and/or its business address, h) prior convictions and courts involved, i) date and place of the crime, name of the people harmed and date when the proceeding initiated, j) legal qualification of the facts. 

Regarding the reports submitted by the Federal Register of Criminal Records in relation to legal entities, the Disposition establishes that the reports would only be released when requested by those authorized by article 8 of Law No. 22,117 of the Federal Register of Criminal Records. This includes both local and foreign authorities with which agreements of information exchange are in place, and persons only in regard to their own personal situation.

The Federal Register of Criminal Records, as stated in the Disposition, has the function of centralizing the information of the criminal proceedings conducted in any jurisdiction in Argentina. In such context, this new Disposition creates a specific database for legal entities that will allow compliance with the provisions of the Anti-corruption Law 27,401, which expressly establishes, in its articles 14 and 25, that the Federal Register of Criminal Records will receive the communications regarding default-judgments and convictions for the crimes set forth in that law.

Through Disposition 11/2018, Argentina will have a specific, centralized and digital register of criminal records for legal entities which is an important step towards the implementation of anti-corruption regulations.