Getting money and other assets in/out of Argentina

[Jago25]

I don't trust my bank back home. And I don't certainly don't trust the banks here after 2002.

How do you guys protect yourselves from this?

Do you keep an open return ticket handy or something like that?

Also central banks are no good for micropayments. Let's say I need to send $10 to a chica from the US. I don't want to pay $20 to do it, and I don't want to be linked to that, for example.

There are alternatives but I haven't found anyone who uses them in Argentina yet.

As an aside for anyone interested here's what I think is true regards rules:

- you are only allowed to take in <$500 worth of gold before getting taxed (is that right? Really that low? How much tax)

- if you purchase land (for example, it is the law for the money to go through the central bank. I presume this gets monitored and then taxed at some rate.)

Regards real estate however, most Argentines when buying land I believe tend to go paying cash and advertise the actual price of land lower than it really was, hiding a percentage through as cash. Of course, it's much harder for a foreigner to do this so we have to pay a higher rate.

Some alternatives:

- keep the cash out of Argentina. Transfer it between accounts offshore, this could be in Uruguay. You could just have an account in Uruguay I suppose But I don't know anyone who does.

- egold / libertyreserve, pecunix, bitcoin. Things like that.

It's shame it's so shady but since there's no argentine paypal. There doesn't seem to be a more official way of doing the small payments even as well.

PMs welcome.

[MataHari]

HSBC Premier account allows you to wire for free for whatever amount up to 100,000 USD a day from any of your accounts in the world to another one. I guess this also applies to Argentina.

[Rock Harders]

Mongers-

All money being wired INTO and OUT OF Argentina through official means must pass through the BCRA's clearinghouse where it will be converted into pesos and then re-converted back into whatever currency you are sending. As such, you, the owner of the money, will lose on the exchange rate spread. Also, if wiring in or out large amounts of money expect the AFIP to inquire as to the source of the money. Naturally, there are numerous ways of moving money in and out of Argentina through un-official means. If you know the right individuals you can move your money in / out of Argentina to / from any bank account in the world (within reason) for a 0.8-1.0% service charge.

Suerte,

Rock Harders

[Wild Walleye]

HSBC Premier account allows you to wire for free for whatever amount up to 100,000 USD a day from any of your accounts in the world to another one. I guess this also applies to Argentina.HSBC seems to be out front on this service.

As for moving and hiding money, this topic seems to be a bit like bareback, anal creampies for the AP community.

[Schmoj]

HSBC seems to be out front on this service.

As for moving and hiding money, this topic seems to be a bit like bareback, anal creampies for the AP community. Hiding money, maybe.

Moving money electronically through official channels is exactly as Rock said. EVERYTHING goes through the BCRA and if there is a problem, they can (and frequently do) hold the funds for whatever reason. It doesn't matter what HSBC's policies are they are still subject to the fickle bureaucracy of the BCRA.

That is not saying that most transactions aren't processed smoothly. If you have a clear and easy paper trail for the funds, my experience is that it is pretty straightforward.

If not, however, it can be painful. I have several colleagues who have had money frozen for several weeks while they prove to the BCRA where it came from. This is why many Argentina use the "services" Rock mentioned. Many others just carry cash.