Main Developments in Competition Law and Policy 2025 – Argentina

General considerations

The most relevant development in competition law and policy in Argentina in 2025 was the establishment of the National Competition Authority (the “NCA”) in November 2025. The NCA is the independent authority created with the 2018 reform of the Antitrust Law that was never constituted. The NCA is comprised by the President and two Commissioners of the Defense of Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”); the Anticompetitive Conducts Secretariat; and the Economic Concentrations Secretariat. The NCA began to exercise its functions as the enforcement authority of the Antitrust Law as of November 17, 2025, and the Comisión Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia (“CNDC”) ceased to exist after 45 years.

Eduardo Montamat has been appointed as President of the Tribunal. The two remaining commissioners are Lucas Trevisani and Marcelo D’Amore. The new Secretariats are Ana Parente (Anticompetitive Conducts) and Germán Zamorano (Mergers).

The appointment of the new authorities triggered the transitory clause of the Antitrust Law which establishes that the ex-ante merger control regime will come into force one year after the NCA begins operation. Therefore, once the ex-ante merger control system becomes effective, any economic concentration exceeding the thresholds set forth in the Antitrust Law, must obtain prior authorization from the NCA to be consummated. Consequently, the ex-ante merger control system will become effective in November 2026.

Previously, and also in the institutional front, in March 2025, commissioner Eduardo Montamat was promoted to president of the CNDC when together with the Secretary of Industry and Trade)1, replacing Alexis Pirchio who had been in that position since the change of government in late 2023.

In the international front, the CNDC continued with the process stared in 2024 of becoming more present in the international fora, sending representatives to different events around the world. In that line, in October, it was announced that the CNDC was going to be the host of the 2026 edition of the Latin American and Caribbean Competition Forum (LACCF), an annual event organized since over 20 years by the OECD and the Inter-American Development Bank to promote competition law in the region through the exchange of experiences between agencies and experts.2 In October 2025, the CNDC signed technical assistance agreements with both Portugal and Costa Rica.

Merger control

In January 2025, the Antitrust Authority approved some changes to the fast-track mechanism (PROSUM)3 introduced in 2023 by the Merger Control Procedure Regulations4. These modifications include:

(i)                 the combined market share in each of the relevant markets affected by the notified transaction of a horizontal merger must be less than 50% and the increase in the HHI must be of less than 150 points in order for the Antitrust Authority to analyse the notified transaction under PROSUM;

(ii)               an economic concentration may not be processed under PROSUM when a regulatory body, pursuant to Section 17 of the Antitrust Law, expressly opposes the notified transaction; (iii) the elimination of the exclusion from PROSUM of transactions that involve the creation of a joint venture by companies that remain independent; among others.

In March 2025, the Antitrust Authority issued an injunction suspending the effects of the purchase of Telefónica Móviles Argentina S.A. and its subsidiaries (“Telefónica”) by Telecom Argentina S.A. (“Telecom”). The injunction required Telecom to refrain from carrying out any type of legal, corporate, and/or commercial action that, directly or indirectly, involves the integration or consolidation with Telefónica for a period of six months, as it could create or strengthen a dominant position in at least two affected markets: (i) mobile phone services, and (ii) internet access services. This decision was overturned by the Court of Appeals in June 2025 on the grounds that the appeal should be granted with suspensive effects and that the Industry and Trade Secretariat should refrain from taking any measure that is contrary to the suspensive effect granted by the appeal.5 Later in June, the Antitrust Authority issued an Objections Report6 as it considered that the notified transaction had the potential to restrict or distort competition in relation to several markets in the telecommunications sector, both due to the horizontal effects—unilateral and coordinated—and vertical effects, as well as due to the conglomerate or portfolio effects. This decision was confirmed by the Court of Appeals in July 2025.7 The Antitrust Authority has not yet issued its final decision.

There was only one known late filing fine imposed by the Antitrust Authority in 2025, and no remedies have been imposed in any transaction. The only late filing fine was imposed in October 2025 to Henkel AG a fine of AR$ 33,903,928.24, approximately U$S 25,000), for a 13-business-days delay in filing the acquisition of Seal for Life.

Enforcement of Anti-competitive conducts

There were no known cartel or abuse of dominance cases with sanctions imposed by the Antitrust Authority in 2025.

In January 2025, the Antitrust Authority issued non-binding recommendation to review two provincial laws that grant exclusivity to the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (BAPRO) for the payment of salaries for all municipal employees in the Province of Buenos Aires. The Antitrust Authority considered that both laws should be amended to remove the exclusivity held by BAPRO as they prevent other public and private financial institutions from offering their services to a portion of demand in the province.

In July 2025, the Antitrust Authority closed the 2021 investigation against Facebook and Whatsapp for an alleged abuse of dominant position due to the new use and security policy update of WhatsApp. The Antitrust Authority considered that there was no sufficient evidence to conclude that the practices constitute an abuse of a dominant position punishable under the Antitrust Law, and that the issues raised are more appropriately addressed in the area of personal data protection and consumer protection.

On December 30, 2025, the Antitrust Authority issued an injunction obligating the Asociación de Anestesiología, Analgesia y Reanimación de Córdoba (the province of Córdoba’s Association of Anesthesiology, Analgesia and Reanimation), and its associated members to continue providing their services while the investigation continues.

Outlook for 2026

With the new Antitrust Authority in place, 2026 is expected to be a more active year in antitrust enforcement. New regulations are expected to be issued in order to adapt to the existing ones to the new institutional framework (e.g. leniency regulations). In merger control, the Authority is working to speed up the review process in order to be full geared towards the start of the ex ante regime that starts to be effective in mid-November.

• 1

  The Antitrust Authority was not constituted until mid-November 2025. Therefore, pursuant to the Antitrust Law No. 27,442, the transitory application authority was the Secretariat of Trade, which decided based on the non-binding opinions from the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC). Accordingly, any reference to the Antitrust Authority before November 17, 2025 is referring to the Secretariat of Trade and the National Commission for the Defense of Competition.

   

• 2     See press release: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/buenos-aires-fue-elegida-como-sede-de-la-edicion-2026-del-foro-latinoamericano-y-del-caribe.
• 3     Provision No. 156/2024, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/normativa/nacional/disposici%C3%B3n-156-2024-408126/texto.
• 4     Merger Control Procedure Regulations, Resolution 905/2023 and Exhibit  I, Secretariat of Trade of the Ministry of Economy, https://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/380000-384999/383980/norma.htm.
• 5     “Telecom Argentina SA c/ Estado Nacional Ministerio de Economía Secretaría de Industria y Comercio s/ apel resol Comisión Nac Defensa de la Compet”, Cámara Civil y Comercial Federal – Sala III, 05/06/2025.
• 6     The Objection Reports are preliminary a set of public statements issued by the Antitrust Authority with the purpose of pointing out the antitrust concerns identified in a given transaction.
• 7     “Telecom Argentina SA c/ Estado Nacional Ministerio de Economía Secretaría de Industria y Comercio s/ recurso de queja CNDC”, Cámara Civil y Comercial Federal – Sala III, 17/07/2025.