The Argentine Government (through its Secretariat of Finance) and the Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission are working on a bill to amend the Capital Markets Law that will be sent to Congress sometime in this coming September.
Among other market friendly items of this bill, the same will admit conduct of private banking activities by representatives of those foreign banking and financial entities that have no license from the Argentine Central Bank to operate in Argentina. Up to this date, those activities have been forbidden.
The law and its regulation will contemplate that those representatives of non-licensed foreign banks and financial entities wishing to conduct business in Argentina shall have to enroll with Argentine authorities and pay taxes in Argentina, set-up bank accounts for the inflow of funds, and constitute special domiciles in Argentina.
That welcome to private banking should result in synergy with the tax amnesty program that is currently in place, which is expected to derive in a significant inflow of funds. To boost the outcome the authorities are working in the regulation, to make sure that the investment funds that will channel repatriations shall not be subject to double taxation.
All of the foregoing is part of a broader program, under which the Argentine government has the primary goal of attracting investments. To that end, government is well aware that it is crucial to eliminate barriers to the inflow/outflow of funds, create a friendlier tax environment, increase the amount of players within the Argentine capital markets, and eliminate or mitigate bureaucratic regulations.
SIMPLIFIED JOINT STOCK COMPANIES (SOCIEDADES POR ACCIONES SIMPLIFICADAS OR SAS)
The Government has announced but yet has to send the draft of the final bills to Congress for approval two bills: The Entrepreneur Bill and the Collective Benefits and Interests Bill, which will establish the legal framework for a faster and simpler incorporation process.
Presently the law contemplates different categories of companies in addition to a branch: a) the Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (S.R.L) - Limited Liability Company - and b) the Sociedad Anónima (S.A) - Corporation. The process to register these companies require substantial paper work.
The SAS will be able to start doing business a lot faster and obtain their CUIT (tax identification number) within 24 hours.
In addition to establish this new simplified registration process the government will create capital funds for entrepreneurial financing over the next four years including the possibility of banks using their online platforms for crowdfunding.
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