On February 7, 2023 Resolution Nº 63/2023, issued by the Secretariat of Trade was published in the Official Gazette, whereby the adjustment of the Mobile Unit value set forth in the Antitrust Act was decided, setting it in AR$ 162.55.
The Mobile Unit is a unit of account created by Act 27,442, that it is used to compute both the business threshold that determines the obligation to notify economic concentration transactions as exceptions to the same; as well as to set the fee corresponding to the proceeding for the notice of economic concentration; to set fines for anti-competitive behaviors and daily penalties in case of noncompliance, when ones and others cannot ber established on the bases of the parameters specified in the Act.
The Mobile Unit is adjusted on an annual basis depending on the evolution of inflation. Section 85 of Act 27.442 sets the initial value of the Mobile Unit in AR$ 20,- (twenty Argentine Pesos) and its automatic adjustment every year by using the variation of the Consumer Price Index (IPC) published by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos -INDEC-) or the official inflation indicator replacing it in the future.
In spite of the fact that adjustment must be made on the last working day of every year, the Act provides that it shall be effective as from its publication. In compliance with this regulatory provision, the Secretariat of Domestic Trade issued on last February 3, Resolution 63/2023 setting the Mobile Unit for year 2023 in 162,55 (one hundred and sixty-two with 55/100 Argentine pesos), mentioned above, that implies an increase of approximately 94.80% of the amounts that according to Act 27,442 are based on it.
The following list shows the new applicable values:
→ Business volume that determines the obligation to notify economic concentrations. Mobile Units: 100,000.000, equivalent to AR$ 16,255,000,000.
→ Exception to the duty to notify economic concentration on the basis of the value of the transferred assets and the price of the transaction. Mobile Units: 20,000,000, equivalent to AR$ 3,251,000,000.
→ Exception to the duty to notify economic concentration on the basis of the addition of the value of the assets and the price of the transaction related to transactions carried out within the preceding thirty-six (36) months. Mobile Units 60,000,000, equivalent to AR$ 9,753,000,000.
→ Fee applicable to notification procedures for economic concentration. Between 5,000 and 20,000 Mobile Units, equivalent to AR$ 812,750 and AR$ 3,251,000.
→ Fine for anti-competitive behavior when it cannot be established on the basis of the parameters set forth in the Act. Up to 200,000,000 Mobile Units, equivalent to the maximum amount of AR$ 32,510,000,000.
→ Daily fine for nonperformance of the duty to notify an economic concentration, disregard of conditionings or orders to suspend behaviors; when the penalty cannot be established on the basis of the parameters specified in the Act. Up to 750,000 Mobile Units, equivalent to AR$ 121,912,500.
→ Daily fine for obstruction of investigations or noncompliance with requirements in the applicable terms and manners. 500 Mobile Units, equivalent to AR$ 81,275.