Communication A 8417: Key aspects of the changes in the exchange rate regime

The regulation introduces relevant changes for exporters, individuals and companies, with an impact on foreign exchange settlement, entry deadlines and financial operations with foreign countries.

The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) published Communication "A" 8417 this Thursday (09.04.2026), which introduces a relaxation in some aspects of the current exchange regulations, namely:

1. Exports of goods by individuals

First, it establishes that individuals are exempt from the obligation to settle export proceeds in the free exchange market. 

Individuals must deposit the funds, but against the dollar account without going through pesos, within the regulatory deadlines which are:

• • 20 business days from when they received the funds abroad and 
  • The term of the tariff position of the exported goods.

This will extend to the following concepts:

• • B01: Collection of exports,
  • B02: advance payment of exports, and
  • B03: pre-financing of exports from abroad.

Local pre-financings (concept b04) will continue to be settled against pesos.

Please note that these settlements made by individuals are exempt from commission charges, as stipulated by the Central Bank.

It is important to clarify that if export payments exceed the aforementioned deadlines, they must be settled in pesos and not in dollars..

2. Exports of Services from natural persons

Secondly, BCRA Communication A 8417 establishes that all concepts of service exports by individuals are enabled for settlement in dollars, without needing to go through pesos.

Unlike Communication A 8330, which only covered certain concepts, the new regulation expands the scope and includes all services, exempting individuals from the obligation to settle in the free exchange market.

In these cases, they will only need to deposit the foreign currency into their dollar account within 20 business days from the receipt of the funds abroad.

If this 20 business day period is exceeded, the funds must be deposited in exchange for pesos.

3. Exports to related controlled companies

The amount is increased from USD 50 million to USD 200 million for cases in which an Argentine company controls a related company abroad to which it exports goods.

Exporters who have carried out transactions with related parties, corresponding to goods with terms of 180 days, in which the importer is a company controlled by the Argentine exporter, may request the entity in charge of monitoring the destination to extend the term until:

i) 180 days, when the exporter has not registered exports with a total value exceeding the equivalent of USD 200 million in the calendar year immediately preceding the officialization of the destination.

It should be remembered that, for exports to related parties, the general term is 60 calendar days counted from the date of shipment.

If the entry period is less than 60 days (for example, 30 days), the original period corresponding to the tariff position will be maintained.

4. Extension of deadlines for the entry of foreign currency for certain goods

In another point of Communication A 8417, the deadline for the entry and settlement of foreign currency for certain goods is extended to 365 consecutive days, including:

• • Garments 
  • Leather articles 
  • hats 
  • knitted fabrics and 
  • Nuclear reactors

These goods go from 180 days to 365 days the term for entering the foreign currency counted in this case from the completion of shipment.

On the other hand, there is the 20 business day period to deposit the foreign currency from the receipt of the funds abroad.

5. Local Negotiable Obligations

The Central Bank now also allows local negotiable obligations to be cancelled up to 3 business days before their maturity date. We remind you that local negotiable obligations could only be paid up to the same day of maturity and not before.

Now with this rule, cancellations are allowed up to 3 business days, and it is also in effect for negotiable obligations in local and foreign countries, the period for prior hoarding is up to 5 business days with a maximum of 20% per day and up to 60 days before with a maximum of 10% of debt accumulation per day.

6. Cash withdrawals with credit cards abroad

The $50 limit for withdrawing dollars abroad using credit cards at ATMs is eliminated.

From now on, each bank or card brand will set the cash withdrawal limit from ATMs abroad with the credit card for each cardholder.

7. Savings held by individuals abroad against exchange A07

From 10/04/2026, individuals who wish to accumulate dollars abroad from dollar accounts must sign a sworn statement in which they commit, from the moment they transfer the currency abroad and for the following 90 calendar days, not to arrange, directly or indirectly or on behalf of third parties, the purchase of securities settled in foreign currency 

This equalizes the obligation to sign a sworn statement for those who enter the foreign exchange market through pesos to be held in accounts abroad under A07 Investments of residents abroad.

If the client has purchased a security against dollars from April 10th onwards, they will be excluded from the foreign exchange market for 90 days.

The exceptions to these cases are:

• • primary subscriptions of debt securities issued by residents, provided that the buyer holds them in their portfolio for at least 15 business days or 
  • starting from the reinvestment of foreign currency collections of capital and interest services of securities issued by the national treasury or the Central Bank within 15 business days following the collection date.

In this way, the operation against the exchange rate gap between the cash settlement and the foreign exchange market is limited in some way.

8.Intercompany Financial Loan Payments

The BCRA establishes that prior approval will not be necessary for the payment of financial loans between related companies, provided that a new financial loan from abroad is received from the same related creditor or from a company in the same group as the debtor.

This new loan that is entered must have a remaining average life of no less than 4 years and a grace period to pay the principal of at least 3 years.

This rule also allows for the refinancing of outstanding loans between related parties by the same creditor, with a remaining average life of 4 years and a 3-year grace period for principal payments.

In this last case, the refinancing granted to the related creditor must be registered in compliance with the deadlines provided in the previous paragraph, preparing exchange tickets without currency movement with the concept code P17.

We remind you that financial loans with related parties can be paid as long as they have been entered and settled in the foreign exchange market from October 2, 2020 onwards with an average life of 2 years, and also loans entered and settled in the foreign exchange market from April 21, 2025 onwards with a minimum term of 180 days.

All interbank loans entered before October 2, 2020, did not have a payment channel. With this possibility, the Central Bank allows itself to somehow regularize those unpaid debts with a new interbank loan or with a refinancing.

9.Hedging currencies with foreign financial derivatives

Finally, the Central Bank allows access to the foreign exchange market for the payment of premiums, the establishment of guarantees and the corresponding cancellations of hedging contracts between foreign currencies, linked to obligations of residents with abroad declared in Communication A 6401 (survey of assets and liabilities), as long as risks greater than the external liabilities effectively registered by the debtor in the currency whose risk is intended to be covered are not covered.

In this way, the client will be able to hedge with a non-resident counterparty in foreign currency, that is, enter into a currency swap, which until now was not allowed.

Until now, only interest rate-linked financial derivatives (interest rate swaps) were permitted to hedge external liabilities. This amendment expands the possibility of establishing hedges with foreign currency financial derivatives, in addition to interest rates, provided they correspond to the external liabilities declared in Communication A 6401.

The client who accesses this mechanism must designate an entity in charge of monitoring the operation and sign a sworn statement, by which he undertakes to deposit and settle the funds that result in his favor —whether as a result of the operation or the release of the guarantees constituted— within the following 5 business days.

In this context, and by way of closing, the following table allows us to visualize in a concise way the main changes introduced by the standard.

Coverage with financial derivatives (COM A 8417 – BCRA

Appearance	Before	Now
Type of coverage allowed	Only interest rate derivatives (interest rate swaps)	Foreign currency derivatives (currency swaps) are enabled
Foreign exchange risk hedging	Not allowed	Allowed for external liabilities
Counterparty	No significant changes	Non-resident counterparty is permitted
Access to the exchange market	Limited Time	Enabled for premium payments, guarantees and cancellations
Main condition		Do not cover amounts exceeding the declared external liabilities (COM A 6401)
Register of liabilities	Implicit	They must be declared in the COM A 6401
Tracking		Mandatory to designate a monitoring entity
Sworn declaration		Mandatory
Income of funds in favor		Income of funds in favor