SME financing: key rules of the SGR system and credits updated in 2025

1. continue advancing good practices in terms of financial soundness and expansion and fiscal responsibility, generating incentives for a more transparent, secure and effective operation,

2. introduce the possibility for Protective Partners to make contributions to the Risk Fund, waiving the tax benefit instituted through Article 79 of Law No. 24,467,

3. incorporate the figure of the Custodian into the operations of the SGR Regime

4. incorporate as of January 1, 2025 the limits and options currently provided for in the Transitional Provision of Article 22 in the central body of the standard.

5. Provide greater precision and clarity to the structure and correlative order of the articles of the regulations.

SME financing: what are the main changes that are introduced

Below, I detail the main changes by articles made to the General Standards of the System of Reciprocal Guarantee Companies (SGR) approved by Resolution No. 21/21 and its amendments:

• Article 1 (Definitions):

  • The concept of “Degree of Use of the Risk Fund” is adapted to distinguish between contributions with tax impact and without tax impact.
  • The definition of “Custodians” is incorporated, which are independent financial entities in charge of guarding the Risk Funds of the SGR.

• Article 12 (Protective Partner File):

  • The obligation to include in the file the waiver of the tax benefit (when applicable) is added, according to Article 79 of Law No. 24,467.

• Article 16 (Contributions from Protective Members):

  • Subsection 5 is replaced to detail the differentiation of contributions of the Protective Partners with or without tax benefits and to exclude the latter from the calculation of the Degree of Utilization of the Risk Fund (GDU) and other limits.
  • A new subsection (6) is incorporated that establishes the proportional distribution of honored guarantees based on previous nominal contributions.
  • The rest of the article is renumbered.

• Article 18 (Contributions without tax benefit):

  • A clarification is added regarding the contributions of Protective Members who waive the tax benefit, establishing the applicable terms and conditions.

• Article 20 (Indicators for the Risk Fund):

  • Indicators are differentiated according to the nature of the contributions to the Risk Fund (with or without tax benefit).
  • Subsection c) is unified and simplified, eliminating redundancies.
  • The Transitional Provision that established a scheme for updating the value of the Risk Fund is eliminated.

• Article 22 (Incorporation of Custodians):

  • The figure of Custodians is introduced to guarantee greater security and transparency in the administration of Risk Funds.
  • The limits and options of the Transitional Provision of Article 22 are incorporated into the central body of the regulation as of January 1, 2025.

• Article 22 bis (Transitional validity of Article 22):

  • It is established that the current version of Article 22 will remain in force until December 31, 2024, as a transitional device.

• Article 54 (Requirements of Social Bodies):

  • The validity of the requirements to apply to all designations made after April 1, 2025 is adjusted.

• Article 55 (Information Regime):

  • The obligation to notify changes or additions of Custodians to the Risk Fund is included.
  • Section 4 is adapted to detail situations related to delays or non-payment of guarantees attributable to the company.
• Duplicate Article 52 and Chapters XI and XII:
• • The duplicate of Article 52 is eliminated.
  • Chapter XI is renamed “Annexes”, with Article 53 renumbered as Article 56.
  • Chapter XII, which contained redundancies, is eliminated.

Changes to the Annexes

• Annex 1 (Sections I, F and J):

  • In it Section Ithe concept of investments of the Risk Fund is adjusted according to the modifications of Article 22.
  • In it Section F (Balances of Current Collateral by Creditor)a material error is corrected: “Creditor CUIT” changes to “Guarantees Number”.
  • In it Section G (Mora)the text “Less than 130 days” is replaced by “Less than 180 days.”
  • In it Section J (Risk Fund Movements)a column is added to indicate whether or not the contribution includes the waiver of the tax benefit.

• Annex 2 (GDU calculation):

  • The calculation of the Degree of Utilization of the Risk Fund is adjusted to exclude contributions with waiver of the tax benefit and contributions of ownership of the SGR.