As we have briefly explained before, the General Inspectorate of Justice (the “IGJ” after its acronym in Spanish) have recently strengthened controls over foreign companies in Argentina[1].

In this line, to register themselves as foreign companies or keep their good standing, among other requirements, foreign companies in Argentina must show evidence that they carry out or keep a significant business activity and their decision-making center outside Argentina.

Therefore, foreign companies have:

1. To sufficiently indicate if it has one or more agencies, branches or representations in force in foreign jurisdictions and/or;
2. To sufficiently individualize non-current fixed assets abroad, indicating their value resulting from the last balance sheet approved by the company no more than one (1) year before and /or;
3. For investment operations in stock exchanges or markets, to submit an accounting certificate on the transactions carried out during the year immediately prior to the start of the registration procedure in Argentina, mentioning the type of securities and operations, amounts traded and overall sums according to their price, stock exchange or markets on which they were transacted, and the market value of the securities in its portfolio on the date of issue of the certificate and/or;
4. Concerning the exploitation of third-party assets, to submit an accounting certificate the assets exploited and the gross income resulting from the last accounting statement approved by the entity no more than one (1) year before and/or;
5. Regarding holdings in other companies not subject to the public offering, it must inform: name, country of origin, percentage of ownership, activity performed and the resulting value of the holding according to the last accounting statement approved by the entity no more than one (1) year before and/or;
6. In case of carrying out habitual investment operations in stock exchanges or markets according to its corporate purpose, it has to submit an accounting certification indicating the type of securities and transactions, amounts traded and overall amounts according to the price of the securities in the portfolio at the date of issue of the certificate and/or;
7. Submit the last accounting statement approved by the company no more than one (1) year before, whereby one of the 1 through 6 cases detailed above is evidenced.

When it comes to keeping the good standing, foreign companies in Argentina must yearly comply with an informative regime, reporting certain data, such as the variations experienced on the overseas business activities informed when they applied for registration, according to the composition and values at the closing date of the financial statements of the company.

In order to know all the requirements to register a foreign company in Argentina, please review the following article in our Legal Blog: "How to register a foreign company in Argentina".

Mario E. Castro Sammartino

[1] For more information, please, read the following entry on our Legal Blog (https://cspabogados.com.ar/en/controls-on-foreign-companies-in-argentina/), or contact us at your convenience (https://cspabogados.com.ar/en/contact-us-castro-sammartino-pierini/) .

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Our publications exclusively express the author´s opinion and do not purport to be legal counsel on any case. Should you need it, you must consult with your trusted lawyer.

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