The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES)) has informed financial institutions of the extension of the prohibition on contracting rural credit operations and the suspension of the release of funds to clients with current embargoes registered in IBAMA’s Register of Environmental Charges and Embargoes and who have not taken effective measures to regularize them. SUP/ADIG Circular No. 76/2023-BNDES included this prohibition in SUP/AIDIG Circular No. 13/2022-BNDES, which sets out guidelines and general orientations for Accredited Financial Institutions. The Circular was published on 11 December 2023, and will come into effect on 10 March 2024.
On 2 February 2024, the Agency for Access to Public Information (AAIP) published Resolution No. 38/2024 (“Resolution”) in the Official Gazette. The Resolution updates the poster template that must be placed in areas where digital images are collected via video surveillance.
On 6 February 2024, the Argentine National Securities Commission (Comisión Nacional de Valores) issued General Resolution No. 990/2024 to modify the current restrictions on trading with marketable securities when using Bonds for the Reconstruction of a Free Argentina (BOPREAL).
On 29 January 2024, through Resolution No. 51/2024 (Resolution), the Secretariat of Commerce repealed a series of provisions and resolutions, with the purpose of reducing bureaucracy and simplifying the processes of the entire production and consumption chain. Within the framework of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 70/2023 and the bill of “Bases and Starting Points for the freedom of Argentines”, which were recently promoted by the Executive Branch of the Nation, the Secretariat by means of the Resolution repealed more than 50 provisions and resolutions issued under its competence. This is in order to reduce bureaucracy and simplify the production processes in relation to consumer and to promote the elimination of certain obstacles and barriers within the trade industry.
In the context of the International Data Protection Day, on 26 January 2024, the Agency of Access to Public Information (AAIP, its acronym in Spanish) published their “Recommendations to protect personal data on the internet”. The AAIP provided five recommendations to users of any digital platform that entails the assignment of personal data.
On 28 December 2023, the decree which amends, supplements, and abrogates certain provisions of the Mexican Securities Market Law (Ley del Mercado de Valores) and the Law of Investment Funds (Ley de Fondos de Inversión), was published in the Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación), and entered into force on the following day to its publication, i.e., on 29 December 2023. The decree establishes that the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público), with the prior opinion of the National Banking and Securities Commission (Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores) (CNBV) and Banco de México, shall issue within a period of no more than 365 days, from the date of its publication, secondary general provisions, regarding sustainable development, in order to strengthen corporate governance, adoption of best market practices and gender equality in corporations, issuers and other participants that operate within the Mexican securities market.
By means of Resolution 48/2024, the Secretariat of Commerce increased the value of the mobile unit to AR 506.19. This increase has an impact on the thresholds for notification of economic concentrations provided by the Antitrust Law 27,442. As of 25 January 2024, only economic concentration transactions in which the combined turnover of the acquiring group and the acquired company exceeds ARS 50,619,000,000,000 will be subject to notification to the Antitrust Commission (to the extent that some of the exceptions provided by the Antitrust Law do not apply).
On 8 January 2024, the Financial Information Unit (UIF for its Spanish abbreviation) issued Resolution No. 1/2023, establishing minimum requirements for the identification, evaluation, monitoring, management, and mitigation of money laundering and terrorist financing risks applicable to persons or legal entities that perform remittances within and outside Argentina. The Resolution is aligned with prior resolutions issued by the UIF for other regulated entities. Accordingly, the Resolution changes the approach from formal regulatory compliance to a risk-based approach.
On 21 December 2023, the Brazilian House of Representatives approved the new text of Bill 2.148/15, which aims to create the Brazilian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System, i.e., the regulated carbon market in Brazil. The text will still be sent to the Brazilian Federal Senate and could return to the House of Representatives if further changes are made.
The European Commission concluded that personal data transferred from the European Union (EU) to Argentina are adequately protected and, therefore, can continue to flow freely from the EU to Argentina. On 15 January 2024, the Commission published its conclusions regarding the first review of the adequacy decisions adopted — pursuant to Article 25(6) of Directive 95/46/EC — in 1995. In these decisions, the Commission had determined that 11 countries or territories, including Argentina, guaranteed an adequate level of protection of personal data. This allowed data transfers from the EU to these countries.