ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Roberto Durrieu, Tomas Guido and Aranzazú Sesma Lasierra, Estudio Durrieu
2. Bribery and Corruption Elements 2.1 Bribery According to the Argentine legislation, bribery is defined as the offer, promise, giving, acceptance or solicitation of an undue advantage of any val - ue (which may be of a financial or non-financial nature), directly or indirectly, and regardless of its location, in violation of the law, as an inducement or reward to a person to act or refrain from acting in connection with the performance of a person’s duties. The receipt of a bribe is an offence. All persons exercising public functions are pro - hibited from receiving gifts, presents, donations, benefits, or gratuities, of services or goods, including the gratuitous transfer of the use there - of, on the occasion or in connection with the performance of their functions. It is understood that the gifts, presents, donations, benefits or gratuities have been received on the occasion of the performance of their duties which they would not have been offered if the recipient did not hold the position which they hold, except for gifts of courtesy or diplomatic custom (see Decree No 1,179/2016 and Decree No 5,013/72). Under the Argentine Criminal Code, specifically in Article 256, the term “public official” includes anyone who participates accidentally or perma - nently in the exercise of public functions, wheth - er by popular election or by appointment by a competent authority. Employees of state-controlled companies are included in this definition, as they are consid - ered public officials when they exercise func - tions on behalf of the state or in relation to public resources. Finally, bribery of foreign public officials is also criminalised in Argentina under Law No 27,401,
in the same manner described. On the other hand, bribery between private parties in a com - mercial transaction is not covered by the law. 2.2 Influence-Peddling Under Article 256 bis of the Argentine Criminal Code, influence-peddling is a crime punish - able in Argentina that foresees the conduct of the person who, by themselves or through an intermediary, requests or receives money or any other gift, or accepts a direct or indirect promise to unduly assert their influence before a public official, so that the latter delays or fails to do something related to their functions. An individual is also punishable who, directly or indirectly, unduly offers, promises or grants to a public official of another state or of a public inter - national organisation, whether for their own ben - efit or that of a third party, sums of money or any other object of pecuniary value or other compen - sation such as gifts, favours, promises or advan - tages, in exchange for such official performing or omitting to perform an act in connection with the exercise of his or her public functions, or in order to use the influence derived from his or her position in a matter related to a transaction of an economic, financial or commercial nature (Article 258 bis of the Criminal Code). Furthermore, Law No 27,401 also encompasses influence-peddling involving foreign public offi - cials, criminalising acts that seek to improperly influence these officials in order to secure an advantage in international transactions. This aligns with Argentina’s international obligations to combat corruption and ensure integrity in
both domestic and foreign contexts. 2.3 Financial Record-Keeping
Argentine law recognises different types of conduct related to the inaccuracy of corporate
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