The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) is an autarchic entity of the National State governed by the provisions of its Organic Charter (C.O.) and other concordant legal norms (Article 1 of Law No. 24,144 and its amendments).
The purpose of the Bank is to promote, to the extent of its powers and within the framework of the policies established by the National Government, monetary and financial stability, employment and economic development with social equity (Article 3 of the C.O.). In addition, Article 4 of the C.O. establishes the following functions and powers of the BCRA:
– To regulate the functioning of the financial system and to apply the Law on Financial Institutions and the rules issued as a result thereof;
– regulate the quantity of money and interest rates and regulate and guide credit; – To act as the financial agent of the National State and the depository and agent of the country before the international monetary, banking and financial institutions to which the Nation has adhered, as well as to play an active role in international integration and cooperation; – Concentrate and manage its reserves of gold, foreign exchange and other foreign assets;
– contribute to the proper functioning of the capital market;
– To execute the exchange rate policy in accordance with the legislation approved by the Honorable Congress of the Nation;
– To regulate, to the extent of its powers, payment systems, settlement and clearing houses, remittances and cash transport companies, as well as any other activity related to financial and exchange activity; and – to provide for the protection of the rights of users of financial services and the defence of competition, coordinating their action with the competent public authorities in these matters.
The same article establishes that in the exercise of its powers, the Bank shall not be subject to orders, indications or instructions from the National Executive Branch (PEN), nor may it assume obligations of any nature that imply conditioning, restricting or delegating them without the express authorization of the Honorable Congress of the Nation.
The National Government guarantees the obligations assumed by the Bank (C.O., Article 1, 2nd para.). The Bank is the financial agent of the National State (C.O., Article 18, paragraph c). Given its purpose, its functions and its powers, and the applicable legal framework, the Bank carries out different operations with the National State, maintaining assets and obligations with it, including operations on its behalf and order.
