Page 16 - CORRUPTION LATAM

MONTT GROUP MAGAZINE - 2024 www.MONTTGROUP.cOM
aRGENTiNa
coMpLiance: a new awakeninG
aLthough argentina has a history of corruption of at Least 30 years, due to internationaL pressures and the neW LegisLation in force, it is expected that it can normaLize its reguLations and Leave the scourge behind With the requirement to incorporate compLiance.
Recently, the North American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in his traditional Annual Report on the State of Human Rights in the World, harshly criticized Argentina for its institutional quality due to inaction in the fight against corruption.
In the document he indicates: “During 2023 there were numerous reports of government corruption; weak institutions and an often ineffective and politicized judicial system undermined systematic attempts to stop this situation,” indicates the text that was distributed by the authority at a press conference.
Global integrity Survey
This assessment coincides with the latest report from Transparency International, which indicates that Argentina fell four places in the ranking of the entity that measures the perception of corruption in 180 countries. It went from 94th to 98th place, and shares the position with Belarus, Albania, Ethiopia, Gambia and Zambia. Thus, it obtained 37 points out of 100 maximum score for the most transparent countries and zero for the most corrupt, thus remaining below the global average of 43 points.
These reports are also in line with the Ernst and Young 2024 Global Integrity Survey, which indicates that Argentina has been one of the
countries where precisely the lack of integrity worsened. The survey also reflects that more than a third of participants from Argentina consider that there are managers in their respective organizations who would sacrifice integrity for short-term financial benefits, and this rises to 43 percent when the benefits are personal.
But not everything has been negative. In the face of international and citizen pressure, things began to change with the entry into force of the law that establishes the Criminal Liability of Legal Entities.
It is from that date, despite the existence of corruption, that the concept of compliance begins to figure in an increasingly important way.
penal responsibility of juridicalpersons
The sanction of Law No 27,401 includes the modification of some specific articles of the Argentine Penal Code, such as articles 1, 33, 258 bis, 265, 266 and 268 and the incorporation of two new articles: 259 bis and 300 bis -this last of special impact on business activity.
The Law on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities came into force on April 1st, 2018 and establishes a criminal liability regime applicable to private legal organizations, whether with national or foreign capital, with or without state participation, for the following crimes :
a) Bribery and influence peddling, both national and transnational. provided for by articles 258 and 258 bis of the Penal Code.
b) Participation in an illicit association, to the extent that the purpose thereof is to commit crimes against the public administration or money laundering crimes. 265 of the Penal Code.
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