Name
Global FinTech Guide
Country _ Name
Argentina
SectionTitle
Signature requirements
Body
The signature requirements pertain the legal or contractual requirements in order to make a legally effective declaration of intent or a legally binding contract.

Possibility to replace a specific formal requirement of making a binding declaration of intention

In Argentina, digital and electronic signatures are regulated by Law 25,506 (“Ley de Firma Digital”). The main difference between a digital and an electronic signature is that digital signatures are validated by digital signature service providers who have a special license issued by the State (“Certificadores Licenciados”). On the contrary, electronic signature providers, although they offer electronic signature infrastructure, do not have such special license issued by the State. 

In Argentina, Law 25,506 grants digital signatures the same legal effect as handwritten/holograph signatures. In this sense, Law 25,506 stipulates a presumption of authorship from the person that issues a digital signature in the same way it does with of handwritten/holograph signatures. 

Regarding electronic signatures, Law 25,506 legally accepts such signatures. The difference from digital signatures is that electronic signatures lack the presumption of authorship that Law 25,506 grants to digital signatures. This means that to prove a document was signed, the interested party who is discussing the authorship of a document signed by means of electronic signature has the burden of proof of such authorship and must provide all necessary elements to prove such authorship from the signer (electronic certificates, e-mails, blockchain certifications, among others means of proof).

In our country, there are few individuals holding digital signatures and it is common practice that the public in general uses electronic signatures; digital signatures are mostly used by public authorities when signing official/public documents.

Presence of any specific formal requirements to effectively conclude a loan agreement

In Argentina, the Civil and Commercial Code stipulates that loan agreements shall be in written form. However, it does not stipulate any particular restriction on the kind of signatures to be adopted to conclude loan agreements. Therefore, it is tacitly inferred that loan agreements can be signed in handwritten/holograph form or using digital/electronic signatures.

Process of conclusion of a contract by using a qualified electronic signature in practice

There are numerous vendors who offer both digital and electronic signatures service infrastructure. A list of service providers of digital signatures can be found in the following link: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/firmadigital/acraiz/certificadoreslicenciados.

Regarding local service providers of electronic signatures, we can mention the following: Signatura, Contractia and other globally renown companies such as DocuSign, RightSignature, HelloSign, among others.

Legal consequences to a contract in case of not fulfilling formal requirements

The contact is void.
 

Usual practice of signing contractual agreements in the B2B sector

Contractual agreements in the B2B sector are usually signed using handwritten or electronic signatures.

Usual practice of signing contractual agreements in the B2C sector

Contractual agreements in the B2C sector are usually signed using handwritten or electronic signatures.

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