20.    CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEPOSIT INSURANCE SYSTEM

Law No. 24485 and Decree No. 540/95 established the creation of the Deposit Insurance System to cover the risk attached to bank deposits, in addition to the system of privileges and safeguards envisaged in the Financial Institutions Law.

By Decree No. 1127/98 of September 24, 1998, the National Executive Branch (PEN) established the maximum coverage limit for the insurance system, extending to demand and time deposits in pesos and/or foreign currency. Until December 31, 2022, this limit increased to $1,500. Effective January 1, 2023, the limit was increased to $6,000. Effective April 1, 2024, with the implementation of Communication “A” 7985, the new limit was set at $25,000, an amount that remains in effect until December 31, 2025.

This regime does not include deposits made by other financial institutions (including time deposit certificates acquired through a secondary transaction), deposits made by persons directly or indirectly related to the entity, deposits of securities, acceptances or guarantees at an interest rate higher than that periodically set forth by the Argentine Central Bank on the basis of the daily survey carried out by that agency (*) and term deposits and investments that exceed said rate by 1.3 times or the reference rate plus 5 percentage points, whichever is greater (*). Excluded from the regime are also the deposits whose ownership was acquired through endorsement and placements offering incentives additional to the interest rate. The system has been implemented through the creation of the so-called “Deposit Guarantee Fund” (FGD), which is managed by the company Seguros de Depósitos S.A. (SEDESA) and whose shareholders are the Central Bank and the financial institutions in the proportion determined for each of them by that agency on the basis of contributions made to such fund.

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(*) Enforced on April 17, 2020, pursuant to provision “A” 6460, such exclusions are as follows: Sight deposits with agreed-upon rates exceeding reference rates and term deposits and investments exceeding 1.3 times such rate-or the reference rate plus five percentage points – the highest of both –, except for fixed-term deposits in pesos arranged at the minimum annual nominal rate published by the Argentine Central Bank as provided in point 1.11.1. of the regulations on “Term deposits and investments.” Reference rates are released on a regular basis by the Argentine Central Bank in accordance with a mobile average of the last five banking business days of passive rates that may arise for term deposits of up to 100 (or its equivalent in other currencies) from the survey to be conducted by said institution. Effective April 1, 2024, the reference rates will be calculated based on the moving average of the last five banking business days of deposit rates for fixed-term deposits in pesos up to 50,000 and in foreign currency up to USD 100, as determined by the survey conducted by the BCRA.

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The amounts detailed above are nominal.