835.51/1547: Airgram
The Chargé in Argentina (Reed) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 11—4:15 p.m.]
A–161. The Embassy is in receipt of a memorandum from the Central Bank, a translation of which reads as follows:
- 1.
- According to information in possession of the Bank, the Government of the United States of North America has adopted regulations providing that in order to collect the income of the loans (bonds) [Page 473] issued in dollars, it is necessary also that the respective bonds be presented.
- 2.
- In this country there are persons of Argentine nationality who in good faith possess bonds of Argentine loans issued in dollars.
- 3.
- If such Argentine residents were required, by virtue of the regulations of the Government of the United States, to send their bonds to North America in order to be able to collect their income, they would incur costs of mailing and insuring, which at present are high, and on the other hand, they would be unable to effect transfers internally with Argentine bonds of which they are the legitimate owners.
- 4.
- It has occurred to us that perhaps it would be possible to find a procedure which at the same time avoids these inconveniences to holders, and takes into consideration the control objective which the Government of the United States had in mind upon the adoption of this regulation.
- 5.
- Such a procedure could be as follows: The Government of the United States would authorize the paying agents of the Argentine loans in dollars to credit the coupons—without the necessity of the presentation of the bonds—provided that they be accompanied by an affidavit that could be drawn up by the Central Bank certifying the nationality of the owner and the possession in good faith of the bonds.
- 6.
- If this procedure should meet with the approval of the United States monetary authorities, agreement could be reached with them on the wording of said affidavit and we would appreciate receiving your suggestions with regard to this.
In view of the fact that the Central Bank has been cooperative with this Embassy in many ways and has been particularly helpful in furnishing this Embassy with requested information from time to time, it is recommended that the above proposal of the Central Bank be accepted and that the Department and the Treasury supply the Embassy with an affidavit which would be acceptable to them for placing the Central Bank plan into effect.
It would be appreciated if the Embassy could have the Department’s comments on this matter as soon as possible.