Argentina

Direct email correspondence with Balanz and Portfolio Personal Inversiones (PPI) included. I have not yet personally opened an account. The Balanz vs PPI distinction documented below is based on my direct outreach to both.

Short answer

Argentina is accessible to foreign non-resident individuals through CNV-registered brokers (ALyCs), but the binding constraint is not a mandatory in-person visit — it is obtaining an Argentine tax ID (CDI/CUIT). Balanz handles the CDI for you as part of onboarding; PPI does not and explicitly requires you to appoint an Argentine resident as your legal representative to obtain one. That single distinction determines which broker is practical. Documents must be translated to Spanish, notarized, and apostilled. Funding may also require clarification — confirm whether foreign-bank wires are accepted or whether an Argentine bank account in your own name is needed. For most foreign individuals who want Argentine corporate exposure without this friction, the deep US ADR universe covers the major names.

Best practical route

Use Balanz. It is the only broker I have confirmed via direct correspondence handles the CDI tax-ID process for foreign clients as part of onboarding — eliminating the otherwise binding bottleneck. No account minimum, no maintenance fee, no in-person visit required. Documents (passport, proof of address, proof of funds) must be translated to Spanish, notarized, and apostilled; front-load this preparation and the account proceeds in weeks. Balanz communicates in both English and Spanish.

For larger accounts (institutional or family-office scale), Puente, Allaria, Cohen, SBS, Max Capital, AdCap, Banco Valores, Galicia Securities, and Macro Securities have private-client desks more likely to handle foreign-wire funding directly — worth direct outreach when account size justifies it.

Broker options

PPI — direct correspondence detail. Sofía at PPI stated:

“El proceso de onboarding lo va a poder hacer tranquilamente, lo que sucede es que luego el área de legales le va a solicitar que presente si o si el CDI y como usted no vive en Argentina va a tener que darle el poder a algún residente argentino para que lo represente en el país. Sin esos dos requisitos, no va a ser posible abrir su cuenta.”

(Translation: “You can complete the onboarding process without issue, but then our legal area will require you to present the CDI — and since you don’t live in Argentina, you’ll have to grant power of attorney to an Argentine resident to represent you in the country. Without those two requirements, it won’t be possible to open your account.”)

A subsequent message from Thomas at PPI confirmed: “We do not process CDIs; you must obtain a representative on your behalf.”

PPI is only viable for foreign individuals who already have a trusted Argentine resident willing to act as legal representative.

What you can actually buy

Buenos Aires Stock Exchange (BCBA) listed equities — major names include YPF (energy), Pampa Energía, Telecom Argentina, Banco Macro, Tenaris (dual-listed), and dozens of smaller industrials and financials. Argentine government and corporate bonds. Mutual funds. CEDEARs — Argentine-listed depositary receipts for foreign (mostly US) equities that trade in pesos but track the dollar price of the underlying stock. CEDEARs are the most distinctive feature of the Argentine market for international investors and are not available in most other LatAm markets.

Onboarding steps in brief: choose a CNV-registered ALyC → prepare and apostille documents → submit KYC (passport, foreign tax ID, address proof, CRS/FATCA, PEP declaration, source-of-funds evidence) → CDI setup (Balanz does this for you) → open cuenta comitente (custody at Caja de Valores) → fund and trade.

Offshore-listed alternatives

Argentina has one of the deepest offshore-listed universes in Latin America. For investors who don’t specifically need direct BCBA access, US-listed names cover most major Argentine corporate franchises.

Energy and resources:

• YPF (NYSE: YPF) — state-controlled oil & gas; one of the largest Argentine names by market cap
• Tenaris (NYSE: TS) — global oil & gas pipe manufacturer; Luxembourg-domiciled but with major Argentine operations and ownership ties
• Pampa Energía (NYSE: PAM) — diversified Argentine energy (electricity, oil & gas)
• Loma Negra (NYSE: LOMA) — major Argentine cement producer

Banks:

• Banco Macro (NYSE: BMA)
• Grupo Financiero Galicia (Nasdaq: GGAL)
• BBVA Argentina (NYSE: BBAR)
• Banco Supervielle (NYSE: SUPV)

Tech and consumer:

• Mercado Libre (Nasdaq: MELI) — largest Latin American e-commerce/fintech platform; Argentine-founded, but now pan-LatAm with Brazil as its largest market (~half of revenue), headquartered in Montevideo (Uruguay) and US-incorporated. It appears under both Argentina (where it was founded) and Brazil (its biggest market) in this directory
• Globant (NYSE: GLOB) — global tech services; Argentine-founded
• Despegar.com (NYSE: DESP) — largest Latin American online travel
• Bioceres Crop Solutions (Nasdaq: BIOX) — Argentine agricultural biotech

Real estate and agriculture:

• IRSA (NYSE: IRS) — major Argentine real estate
• Cresud (Nasdaq: CRESY) — Argentine agricultural producer (also Brazilian operations)
• Adecoagro (NYSE: AGRO) — agricultural producer with Argentine, Brazilian, and Uruguayan operations

Utilities and telecoms:

• Telecom Argentina (NYSE: TEO)
• Edenor (NYSE: EDN)

ETF route: The cleanest one-ticker option is the Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (NYSE Arca: ARGT) — the primary, most widely traded Argentina ETF, giving diversified exposure through any standard Western broker with no local account. Argentine names also appear at small weightings in broader LatAm ETFs (e.g. ILF), but ARGT is the Argentina-focused choice. Picking specific ADRs lets you target a sector instead.

Verdict

Argentina is accessible for foreign individuals as of 2026. The Milei-era regulatory environment has made foreign investor onboarding more practical than during the heavy capital-controls period of 2019–2023. The single most useful insight is the Balanz vs PPI distinction — generic frontier-markets coverage treats the two as equivalent; my direct correspondence shows they are not equivalent for foreign individuals without Argentine contacts. The apostille document burden is real but front-loadable, and once prepared, documents are reusable across Argentine brokers. For most foreign investors, the US ADR universe is the lower-friction route; go direct-market only if you specifically need CEDEAR trading or access to BCBA small/mid-cap names unavailable as ADRs.

Sources & dates

Verified personally: Direct email correspondence with Balanz (May 2026) — confirmed foreign-individual onboarding requirements (passport, proof of address, proof of funds, Spanish translation + notarization + apostille) and that Balanz handles CDI tax-ID setup. Direct email correspondence with PPI (May 2026) — Sofía and Thomas at PPI confirmed they do not process CDIs and require an Argentine resident representative.

Public sources checked: BYMA investor guide; BYMA member directory; CNV public agent registry; CNV foreign investor remote-opening rule documentation; ARCA CUIT/CDI documentation for residents abroad; Balanz public account opening materials; Bull Market Brokers requirements page.