On February 8, 2022, the First Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals, Second Chamber of La Plata (the “Court”) granted the appeal filed by a company allowing it to cancel debts in US dollars at the official exchange rate of the Banco de la Nación Argentina- Argentine National Bank.
In contrast to this recent ruling, the jurisprudence maintained its position that debts in foreign currency must be converted into pesos at the exchange rate of the stock exchange dollars such as the MEP (stock market dollar).
The court of first instance held that the debt in dollars should be paid… “by depositing the sufficient amount of pesos at the official exchange rate plus 30% as Country tax” understanding that there are other licit means for the acquisition of US currency through the “acquisition of public debt securities of the country, denominated in US dollars, to later liquidate them in the stock market” referring to stock market dollars.
The Court of second instance understood that art.765 of the Civil and Commercial Code, which establishes the option of payment equivalent in national currency, is applicable and at the same time denied that the addition of the 30% “country tax” (created by law 27.541) is applicable due to the fact that the collection agent is any of the entities authorized to operate in the foreign exchange market and, according to the court:… “there is no intervention of an entity authorized by the BCRA to act in the free foreign exchange market, nor is there a purchase-sale operation under the terms set out in points 1.1, 6.2.1 and subsequent Communication “A” 6844″.
In this way, the Chamber set a disruptive precedent in the matter of contracts entered into in foreign currency, taking into account the difference with the current jurisprudence and the difficulties caused by the exchange control system in force in our country.
