Argentina to Launch ETFs to Attract Foreign Capital | Bloomberg Línea

Buenos Aires – Argentina’s national securities commission, the Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV), is preparing to enable the creation of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), including one designed to replicate the performance of the Buenos Aires stock index and trade on international exchanges, according to CNV President Roberto Silva. The initiative, announced at a symposium hosted by the Argentine Institute of Finance Executives (IAEF), aims to attract foreign capital into the country.

An ETF is a basket of securities – stocks, bonds, or commodities – that trades on an exchange like a single stock. Silva explained the CNV’s current focus is on establishing a local ETF that would mirror the S&P ByMA index, offering international investors a vehicle to access the Argentine stock market.

“What are we doing now? We are looking at the possibility of having a local ETF,” Silva stated during his presentation. “The local ETF, by antonomasia, would, for example, replicate the S&P ByMA index, through a vehicle that can be listed abroad and attract capital to the Argentine Stock Exchange.”

Silva identified two potential mechanisms for establishing these local ETFs: Certificados de Valores (CEVAs), created alongside CEDEARs (Argentine Depositary Receipts) but previously underutilized and the CEDEARs themselves. The CNV has revised both instruments to facilitate their use for ETFs.

“We are going to enable them in parallel with common investment funds that can replicate indices, so one will be able to create local ETFs through both vehicles,” Silva said. The CNV plans to launch a public consultation to finalize the regulatory framework for local ETFs.

Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (ByMA), the Buenos Aires stock exchange, is concurrently adapting its infrastructure to support ETF operations, ensuring efficiency, liquidity, and alignment with international standards, according to María José Del Boca, chief of trading & CCP at ByMA. “This drives the development of the Argentine market, bringing individual and institutional investors closer through a fundamental instrument in global markets, improving the dynamics and depth of the local market,” Del Boca stated.

Roberto Silva, a lawyer who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was appointed President of the CNV in December 2023. Prior to his appointment, he was a partner at Marval O’Farrell Mairal, a leading Argentine law firm, since 1996, and a member of its board of directors. He also served as Secretary of the Argentine Chamber of Fideicomisos and Direct Investment Funds (CAFIDAP) since 2016.

Silva currently represents the Board of IOSCO’s Inter-American Regional Committee (IARC) and is a member of its Finance and Audit Committee (FAC), and is also a member of the Executive Committee of FintechLac. He has been actively involved in the country’s fourth round of evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (GAFI).