The Board of Directors of the Argentine Central Bank (the "Central Bank") announced important news on criminal exchange investigations. In this connection, the Superintendence of Financial and Exchange Institutions (the "Superintendence") was instructed to apply the legal principle of retroactivity of the "more favorable criminal law", on the ground of law precedents set forth by the Supreme Court of Justice (in re "Cristalux" and "Docuprint"). According to this principle, subsequent rules which are more favorable to the prosecuted persons or entities apply to cases that were before deemed a criminal offence by the Criminal Exchange Regime.

The Central Bank estimates that about 60,000 persons will be released from current criminal exchange proceedings and shall cease to be prosecuted for transactions made in the past that are now fully permitted, particularly, for minor infractions which, from a legal standpoint, can be deemed not subject to sanctions due to their insignificance.

In this way, proceedings followed for infractions that are no longer in force will cease. This would include, among other situations, the purchase of foreign currency for travels without evidence of the trip, extraction of foreign currency from ATMs abroad in excess of the permitted amounts, excess of remittances of foreign currency for family assistance, etc.

It is expected that this decision will allow the Superintendence to focus its resources and efforts on the investigation of serious exchange infractions, as well as to accelerate these proceedings.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.