BANCO CENTRAL DE LA REPUBLIC ARGENTINA Ley 25.562 Modification of the Organic Charter. Act No. 24.144. Amendment of the Financial Institutions Act No. 21.526.

Sanctioned: January 23, 2002

Promulgated: February 6, 2002

The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation gathered in Congress, etc.

sanction with force of law:

PART I

MODIFICATIONS TO THE ORGANIZATIONAL CENTRAL BANCO OF THE ARGENTINA REPUBLIC.

ARTICLE 1 Replace Article 3 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, approved by Article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 3 . It is the primary and fundamental mission of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic to preserve the value of the currency.

The Bank ' s powers for this purpose will be to regulate the amount of money and credit in the economy and to issue monetary, financial and exchange rules, in accordance with current legislation.

The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic should publicize, prior to the start of each year, its monetary program for the following year, reporting on the goal of inflation and the total variation of projected money. On a quarterly basis, or whenever significant deviations are foreseen in respect of informed targets, the causes of deviation and new programming should be made public. Failure to comply with this obligation to report by the members of the board of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic will be a cause of removal for the purposes provided for in Article 9.

In the formulation and implementation of monetary and financial policy, the Bank shall not be subject to orders, indications or instructions from the national executive branch.

The Bank may not assume obligations of any nature that involve conditioning, restricting or delegating without express authorization from the Honorable Congress of the Nation, the exercise of its legal powers.

The national State guarantees the obligations assumed by the Bank. .

ARTICLE 2 Replace Article 4 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, approved by Article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 4 de The functions of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic:

(a) To monitor the good functioning of the financial market and to implement the Financial Institutions Act and other rules which, as a result, are issued;

(b) To act as a financial agent of the national State and depositary and agent of the country to the international monetary, banking and financial institutions to which the Nation has acceded;

(c) Concentrate and manage, its reserves of gold, currency and other external assets;

(d) To promote the development and strengthening of the capital market;

(e) To execute the exchange policy in a whole according to the legislation sanctioning the Honorable Congress of the Nation. .

Article 3 s Replace Article 10(i) of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, approved by Article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and amended by the following:

5,000) You must submit an annual report on the Bank's operations to the Honorable Congress of the Nation. In turn, it shall appear before the Budget and Finance Commissions of both Chambers, the Economy of the Senate of the Nation and the Finance of the Chamber of Deputies, in public and joint sessions of the Chambers, at least once during the regular period or when these Commissions convene it, in order to report on the scope of monetary, exchange and financial policies in execution. .

ARTICLE 4 Replace Article 14 (c) of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, adopted by Article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

(sighs) Fix interest rates and other general terms of credit operations of the Bank, which may not be less than the average of placement of reserves. .

ARTICLE 5o Incorporate as Article 14 (s) of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, approved by Article 1 of Law No. 24,144 and its amendments, the following: Establish the minimum security requirements to be met by financial entities, as well as those of the transport of values. ARTICLE 6 Replace article 17 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, adopted by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 17 El The Bank is empowered to perform the following operations:

(a) To issue banknotes and coins according to the delegation of authority made by the Honorable Congress of the Nation.

(b) To grant recounts to financial entities for reasons of transitory liquidity, up to a maximum per entity equivalent to the assets of the latter. Rediscovery operations will involve the transfer in ownership of the credit instruments of the financial entity in favour of the Bank. The assisted financial entity shall remain bound in respect of the payment of the debtors of the rediscovered portfolio.

(c) To make advances in accounts to financial entities by transitional iliquicity, with the caption of public securities or other values, or with special or general guarantee or affectation on specific assets, provided that the sum of the recounts and advances granted to the same entity does not exceed, in any circumstances, the limit set in the preceding subparagraph.

Where it is necessary to provide adequate liquidity to the financial system, or when general and extraordinary circumstances make it advisable in the opinion of the absolute majority of the Board, the maximums may be exceeded by entity provided for in subparagraph (b) above and in the first paragraph of this subparagraph.

When this extraordinary financing is granted, in addition to the guarantees that will be constituted with the assets of the entity, the partners shall at least pre-establish the social control capital of the entity and shall conform to the eventual further application of the procedure provided for in article 35 bis of the Financial Institutions Act. In the case of cooperative financial entities, the garment of social capital will be replaced by irrevocable assembly agreement for the eventual application of article 35 bis. Official banks may be exempt from this requirement.

(d) Those derived from international agreements on payments, and the taking of loans from multilateral agencies or foreign officials, central banks or entities of which only the Bank can be borrowed, by itself or on behalf of the National Treasury as the Financial Agent of the Republic.

(e) To assign, transfer or sell any credits it had acquired from financial entities affected by liquidity problems.

(f) Grant advances to financial entities with caption, assignment in warranty, pledge or special impact of: I) credits or other financial assets whose debtor or guarantor is the national State, II) debt or participation certificates issued by financial trusts whose assets are composed of credits or other financial assets whose debtor or guarantor is the national State. In such cases, the restrictions set out in subparagraphs (b) and (c) above shall not be governed.

Resources to be provided to financial entities through the regimes set out in subparagraphs (b) and (c) above, under no circumstances may lack assurance or be granted in the form of a current account. The values that should first be affected as a guarantee of these operations will be those that have public tenders and will be valued according to their market quote. .

ARTICLE 7 Replace article 18 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, adopted by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 18ículo The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic may:

(a) Buy and sell at market prices, in cash and term operations, public securities, currency and other financial assets for monetary and exchange regulation purposes;

(b) To assign or transfer to third parties the assets that it has acquired on property by the rediscounts that it has granted to financial entities under the preceding article 17 (b) or to transfer them to other financial entities, to the trusts constituted by the national Executive, to the deposit guarantee fund, or a financial trust.

The assets subject to the guarantees in favour of the Bank, for the advances provided for in article 17 (b) and for the operations arising from international agreements on mutual payments and credits, may be subject to collection or enforcement, by themselves or by entrusting its management to the persons or entities mentioned in the preceding paragraph;

(c) Buy and sell gold and currency. In the event that it does so on the account and order of the Ministry of Economy, as a financial agent of the national State, the losses or profits that are generated shall be credited or debited to the national government;

(d) Receiving gold and other financial assets in custody;

(e) To act as a correspondent or agent of other central banks, or to represent or form part of any existing international entity or to be established for the purpose of banking, monetary or financial cooperation;

(f) Receiving deposits in national or foreign currency;

(g) Establish financial policies aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises and regional economies, through reserve requirements or differential lace;

(h) Establish contributions from financial entities to deposit and/or bank liquidity guarantee funds. The Bank may make exceptions to the funds set forth in the second term in the light of particular situations of liquidity of the financial entities. .

ARTICLE 8 Replace article 20 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, adopted by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 20 . The Bank will be able to make temporary advances to the national government to an amount that does not exceed 10% of the cash resources it has obtained in the last 12 months. All advances made in this regard shall be reimbursed within 12 months. If any advance of this nature is unpaid after that period, this Bank ' s faculty may not be used again until the amounts due have been refunded. .

Article 9 Replace article 28 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, adopted by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 28 . In order to regulate the amount of money and monitor the good functioning of the financial market, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic may require that financial entities keep certain proportions of deposits and other liabilities available, called in local or foreign currency. These reservations requirements cannot be paid. Other types of indisposable deposits or immobilization may not be required for financial entities. The integration of reservations requirements may not be constituted only in cash or in cash deposits at the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic or in currency account, depending on the liabilities of the financial entities denominated in local or foreign currency, respectively, or in public securities valued at market price, in the latter case, in the proportion determined by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic. .

ARTICLE 10. el Replace article 29 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, approved by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 29 El The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic shall:

(a) To advise the Ministry of Economy and the Honorable Congress of the Nation, in all matters concerning the regime of change and to establish the regulations of a general nature;

(b) Dictate the regulatory rules of the change regime and exercise the control required by its compliance. .

ARTICLE 11. Replace article 31 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, adopted by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 31 . Bank tickets and coins will have legal course throughout the territory of the Argentine Republic for the amount expressed in them. The bills will carry the facsimile of the signature of the President of the Bank, accompanied by the President of the Honorable House of Senators or of the Honorable Chamber of Deputies, according to the Board of the Bank for the different denominations. Please also contact the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic to coin currency with numismatic or commemorative value. Such currencies shall not be subject to the provisions contained in the first paragraph of this article. .

ARTICLE 12. el Replace article 33 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, approved by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 33 . The Bank may maintain a portion of its external assets in deposits or other operations of interest, in foreign banking institutions or in papers of recognized solvency and liquidity payable in gold or in foreign currency. .

ARTICLE 13. Replace article 38 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, adopted by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 38 . Non-capitalized utilities will be used for the general reserve fund and for the special reserve funds, until they reach the CINCUENTA FOR SCIENTA (50%) of the Bank's capital. Once this limit has been reached, the non-capitalized or applied profits in reserve funds shall be freely transferred to the national Government account.

The losses incurred by the Bank in a given period shall be attributable to reservations that have been established in previous periods and if this is not possible, they shall affect the capital of the Institution. In these cases, the Bank Directory may affect the profits generated in exercises following the recomposition of the levels of capital and reserves prior to the loss. .

ARTICLE 14. Replace article 40 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, approved by article 1 of Law No. 24.144 and its amendments, with the following:

Article 40 de The provisions of the Financial Administration Act No. 24.156 and its modifications are only applicable to the Bank in terms of the verification that the erogations fit in the budget and the documented accountability that, in time not exceeding UN (1) year, must present to the external control entity of the public sector. .

PART II

MODIFICATIONS TO THE LAW OF FINANCIAL ENTITIES No. 21.526

ARTICLE 15. el Replace article 53 (a) of the Financial Institutions Act No. 21.526 and amend the following:

(thousands) Credits with special privilege due to mortgage, clothing and credits granted pursuant to article 17 (b) (c) and (f) of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, in the extension of their respective systems. Credits granted by the Banking Liquidity Fund (FLB) established by Decree No. 32 of 26 December 2001, guaranteed by clothing or mortgage, shall enjoy the same privilege. .

TRANSITORY PROVISION

ARTICLE 16. Information on monetary programming provided for in the third paragraph of Article 3 of the Organic Charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic for the year 2002 shall be publicized within thirty (30) days after the sanction of the present. ARTICLE 17. Default of Act No. 19.130. ARTICLE 18. This law shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette. ARTICLE 19. Contact the national executive branch.

IN THE SESSION OF THE ARGENTINE CONGRESS, IN GOOD AIRES, TO THE VEINTS OF THE MONTH OF JANUARY OF THE YEAR.

# 25,562

EDUARDO O. CHANGE. . JUAN C. MAQUEDA. . Eduardo D. Rollano. . Juan C. Oyarzún.

NOTE: The bold texts were observed.