Secretariat of Commerce Resolution No. 35/2022: updated value of the Mobile Unit for 2022.
Competition & Antitrust Department Report | Secretariat of Commerce Resolution No. 35/2022: updated value of the Mobile Unit for 2022
Dear Sir or Madam,
Resolution No. 35/2022 of the Secretariat of Commerce, published in the Official Gazette on February 2nd, 2022, updates the value of the Mobile Unit [1] for 2022 to AR$83.45.
The Mobile Unit is used as a reference unit in the Argentine Antitrust Act No. 27,442 (“AAA”) and in the new Need and Urgency Decree No. 274/2019 that passed a new Fair-Trade Act.
The update of the value of the Mobile Unit has the following impact on the above-mentioned regulations:
1. Antitrust
• Increase of thresholds that trigger merger control: (a) the Argentine turnover of the acquiring group plus the Argentine turnover of the target during the previous fiscal year must be now equal to – or more than- AR$8,345,000,000 [2]; AND (b) the price of the transaction OR the value of the Argentine assets acquired must be now equal to -or more than- AR$1,669,000,000 [3] or AR$5,007,000,000 [4] in the last 36 months in the same markets.
• The upper limit for the penalty for infringements to the AAA that the authority is entitled to set when none of the other estimation methods provided in the AAA are applicable is now AR$16,690,000,000 [5].
• Increase to AR$62,587,500 the upper limit of the daily fine [6] for late filing and for breaching an order of cessation of anticompetitive behavior or a behavioral commitment that the authority is entitled to set when none of the other estimation methods provided in the AAA are applicable.
• Increase to AR$41,725 the daily fine [7] for obstructing or hindering any investigation or failing to comply with the requirements of the antitrust authority in the time and manner required.
• Increase to AR$1,669,000 the maximum amount for the filing fee [8] that may be required by the Antitrust authority in the filing for merger control proceedings.
2. Fair Trade: raises the maximum amount of the penalty of a fine to AR$ 834,500,000 [9].
Notes:
[1] The value of the Mobile Unit shall be updated on a yearly basis considering the variation of the Consumer Price Index.
[2] 100 million Mobile Units.
[3] 20 million Mobile Units.
[4] 60 million Mobile Units.
[5] 200 million Mobile Units.
[6] 750,000 Mobile Units.
[7] 500 Mobile Units.
[8] As of today, the antitrust authority has not set any filing fee.
[9] 10 million Mobile Units.
Should you require any further information on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Agustín Waisman
Mercedes Pando
Noelia De Belder