PAYMENTS AND SECURITIES CLEARANCE AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS IN ARGENTINA

PAYMENTS AND SECURITIES CLEARANCE
AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS IN ARGENTINA

1. ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL MARKET OVERVIEW ............................................................1
1.1 Overview of Recent Reforms .............................................................................................1
1.2 Macroeconomic Background ...........................................................................................2
1.3 The Financial Sector .........................................................................................................3
1.4 The Capital Markets ..........................................................................................................4
1.5 Major Trends in Payment Systems .....................................................................................5
1.6 Major Trends in Securities Clearance and Settlement Systems ..........................................6
2. INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS .....................................................................................................8
2.1 GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................8
2.1.1 Payments ..................................................................................................................8
2.1.2 Securities ...............................................................................................................11
2.1.3 Derivatives .............................................................................................................12
2.2 THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES: PAYMENTS ..................................................................13
2.2.1 The Banking Sector ................................................................................................13
2.2.2 Other Institutions that Provide Payment Services ....................................................14
2.3 THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES: SECURITIES .................................................................15
2.3.1 Securities Market Participants .................................................................................15
2.3.2 Stock Exchanges .....................................................................................................16
2.3.3 Securities Clearing and Settlement Institutions .......................................................16
2.4 THE ROLE OF THE CENTRAL BANK ..........................................................................................17
2.4.1 Monetary Policy .....................................................................................................18
2.4.2 Involvement in Payment Systems ............................................................................20
2.5 THE ROLE OF BANKING SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY......................................................................20
2.5.1 Supervision of Financial Entities .............................................................................20
2.5.2 Oversight of the Payment System ...........................................................................24
2.6 THE ROLE OF THE SECURITIES REGULATORS ...............................................................................24
2.7 THE ROLE OF OTHER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR ENTITIES ........................................................25
2.7.1 The Ministry of Economy .......................................................................................25
2.7.2 The Banker’s Associations ......................................................................................26
2.7.3 The Comisión Interbancaria de Medios de Pago
de la República Argentina (CIMPRA) .....................................................................26
3. PAYMENT MEDIA USED BY NON-FINANCIAL ENTITIES ....................................................27
3.1 CASH ................................................................................................................................27
3.2 NON-CASH PAYMENTS ..........................................................................................................28
3.2.1 Paper Checks .........................................................................................................28
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3.2.2 Direct Debits ..........................................................................................................28
3.2.3 Payment Cards .......................................................................................................29
3.2.4 Postal Instruments ..................................................................................................30
3.2.5 Recent Developments ............................................................................................30
4. PAYMENTS: INTERBANK EXCHANGE AND SETTLEMENT CIRCUITS ..................................32
4.1 THE REFORM OF THE INTERBANK CIRCUIT .................................................................................32
4.1.1 The “Old” Interbank Circuit ...................................................................................32
4.1.2 The Guidelines of the Reform ................................................................................33
4.2 THE NEW REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR PRIVATE CLEARINGHOUSES ..............................................34
4.3 LOW-VALUE CLEARINGHOUSES ................................................................................................35
4.4 LARGE VALUE CLEARINGHOUSES .............................................................................................37
4.4.1 Interbanking ...........................................................................................................37
4.4.2 Provincanje ............................................................................................................41
4.5 CENTRAL BANK OPERATED REAL TIME GROSS SETTLEMENT SYSTEM (THE MEP SYSTEM) ......................41
4.6 OTHER SYSTEMS AND TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS ............................................................................44
4.7 MAJOR PROJECTS AND POLICIES BEING IMPLEMENTED ..................................................................45
5. SECURITIES: INSTRUMENTS, MARKET STRUCTURE AND TRADING ................................47
5.1 FORMS OF SECURITIES ...........................................................................................................47
5.2 TYPES OF SECURITIES ............................................................................................................47
5.3 SECURITIES IDENTIFICATION CODE ...........................................................................................48
5.4 CLASSIFICATION OF SECURITIES ACCORDING TO TYPE OF TRANSFER ................................................48
5.5 TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP .....................................................................................................49
5.5.1 Determination of Ownership .................................................................................49
5.5.2 Novation ................................................................................................................49
5.5.3 Bankruptcy .............................................................................................................49
5.6 TREATMENT OF LOST, STOLEN OR DESTROYED SECURITIES .............................................................50
5.7 MARKET STRUCTURE AND TRADING SYSTEMS .............................................................................50
5.7.1 General Scheme ....................................................................................................50
5.7.2 Regulatory Dimension ...........................................................................................51
5.7.3 Self-regulatory Organizations .................................................................................51
5.7.4 The Caja de Valores and the Banco de Valores .......................................................52
5.7.5 The Over-the-counter Market, the MAE ..................................................................52
5.7.6 Futures and Options Market ...................................................................................52
6. CLEARANCE AND SETTLEMENT CIRCUITS FOR CORPORATE SECURITIES ......................53
6.1 ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS ........................................................................................53
6.1.1 Merval’s Clearing and Settlement System ...............................................................53
6.2 PARTICIPATION IN THE CLEARING AND SETTLEMENT PROCESS .........................................................54
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6.3 CLEARING AND SETTLEMENT PROCESS ......................................................................................55
6.3.1 Clearing at the Merval ............................................................................................55
6.4 SECURITIES CUSTODY ............................................................................................................56
6.4.1 Rights Derived from Securities on Deposit .............................................................57
6.4.2 Withdrawal of Securities ........................................................................................57
6.4.3 Pledge of Securities ................................................................................................57
6.4.4 International Links ..................................................................................................58
7. CLEARANCE AND SETTLEMENT CIRCUITS FOR GOVERNMENT SECURITIES ..................59
7.1 THE GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET ....................................................................................59
7.2 THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................59
7.3 TRANSACTIONS ON THE CRYL ................................................................................................61
8. THE ROLE OF THE CENTRAL BANK IN INTERBANK CIRCUITS .........................................64
8.1 THE RISK CONTROL POLICY ..................................................................................................64
8.2 SETTLEMENT ........................................................................................................................65
8.3 MONETARY POLICY AND PAYMENT SYSTEMS ..............................................................................66
8.4 THE ROLE OF THE BCRA IN CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS ...............................................................67
8.4.1 Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración (ALADI) ..............................................68
8.5 PRICING POLICIES ................................................................................................................68
9. SUPERVISION OF SECURITIES CLEARANCE AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS ........................69
9.1 CNV STATUTORY AND SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY OVER PARTICIPANTS
IN THE CLEARANCE AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS ...........................................................................69
9.1.1 Responsibility over SROs ........................................................................................69
9.2 SROS STATUTORY AND SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY FOR CLEARANCE AND SETTLEMENT .....................69
ANNEX: THE CONVERTIBILITY PLAN .....................................................................................70
APPENDIX: STATISTICAL TABLES OF ARGENTINA .................................................................73
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................84
GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................86