The governmental agency responsible for enforcing the competition framework in Paraguay (Comisión Nacional de la Competencia or “CONACOM” for its Spanish Acronym), issued a new resolution raising the applicable fees for merger control filings.
According to the Paraguayan competition law, filing fees may range between 0.005% and 0.1% of the value of the transaction in Paraguay, on a sliding scale depending, on the value of the transaction in Paraguay. The original references for calculation of the fees were included within a regulation issued in 2016 (the “2016 Resolution”) that are now replaced by a new one issued in June 2019 (the “2019 Resolution”). The 2019 Resolution substantially raises the applicable fees for merger control filings and considers the local minimum wage (that may be subject to periodical adjustments and is fixed in Paraguayan Guaranies or “PYG”) as a reference to determine the value of the transaction in Paraguay as noticed in the chart below.
| Value of the transaction [ranges in monthly local minimum wages] | Approximate value of the transaction [USD ranges]* | % over transaction under 2016 Resolution | Fees under 2016 Resolution [USD]* | % over transaction under 2019 Resolution | New Fees under 2019 Resolution [USD]* | |
| up to 30,000 | up to 10,667,288 | 0.005 | 533 | 0.1 | 10,667 | |
| 30,001 to 100,000 | 10,667,644 – 35,557,629 | 0.005 | 533 – 1,778 | 0.04 | 4,267 – 14,223 | |
| 100,001 to 200,000 | 35,557,984 – 71,115,258 | 0.005 | 1,778 – 3,556 | 0.02 | 7,112 – 14,223 | |
| 200,001 to 255,000 | 71,115,614 – 90,671,954 | 0.005 | 3,556 – 4,534 | 0.01 | 7,112 – 9,067 | |
| 255,001 to 300,000 | 90,672,310 – 106,672,887 | 0.005 | 4,534 – 5,334 | 0.009 | 8,161 – 9,601 | |
| 300,001 to 400,000 | 106,673,243 – 142,230,517 | 0.005 | 5,334 – 7,112 | 0.008 | 8,534 – 11,378 | |
| 400,001 or more | 142,230,872 or more | 0.005 | 7,112 | 0.005 | 7,112 |
*Values are approximate and were calculated taking as a reference an exchange rate of USD = PYG 6,167 as published in www.bcp.gov.py as of July 4, 2019
Merger control notifications must generally be filed within 10 days of the execution of the transactional agreement provided that the transaction has effects in Paraguay and that the legal thresholds for notification are triggered.