YPF App to Sell Bonds After 1.5M Share Sales
ARGENTINA · MARKETS
Key Facts
- —The country Argentina’s state-controlled oil company YPF is its largest energy producer, with shares traded in Buenos Aires and New York.
- —Why it matters Bonds sold inside a phone app would let ordinary savers lend directly to YPF, a step beyond the share sales that began in August.
- —Why now YPF chief executive Horacio Marín announced the plan on Friday 16 October 2026 at the Rosario board of trade.
- —What happened Marín said app users will later be able to buy YPF bonds in pesos and dollars, after about 1.5 million shares sold in 45 days.
- —The numbers He put the buyers at 300,000 people, averaging five shares and about ARS 40,000 (about US$26) each.
- —What it means for you US holders of YPF’s New York shares see the company courting small local savers, though the sums so far are small next to its US$1.2 billion September bond.
- —Still open No launch date, bond size, interest rate or maturity has been announced.
- —Power Index Argentina ranks 4th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 61.2 points (October 2026 edition).
The YPF app will soon let ordinary savers buy the company’s corporate bonds, chief executive Horacio Marín said in Rosario on Friday 16 October 2026. He added that about 1.5 million YPF shares have been bought through the same app in 45 days, by roughly 300,000 people.
For US readers the news matters because YPF’s shares also trade on Wall Street. Argentina’s biggest oil producer is now courting small local investors, weeks after a US$1.2 billion bond drew orders of about US$2.2 billion, as we covered in YPF Borrows US$1.2 Billion, the Largest Argentine Issue in Eleven Years.
What Marín announced is a plan, not a product already on sale. He gave no launch date, size, interest rate or maturity for the bonds, and none appears in the coverage we reviewed.
What Marín Announced in Rosario
Marín spoke at the Bolsa de Comercio de Rosario, the board of trade of a city in a region with strong industrial, logistics and grain-export activity. Rosario3’s business section, Ecos365, put the audience at more than 750 business people and officials.
In our translation of iProfesional’s text, he said: “We made it possible to buy shares, and another very important thing is that afterwards they will be able to buy corporate bonds.” The bonds would be offered in pesos and in dollars, according to iProfesional and iProUP.
Corporate bonds are known in Argentina as obligaciones negociables, or ONs, and a company issues them to borrow directly from investors. Marín said the aim was to let “ordinary people” take part in the capital market, and iProfesional says the money would help fund YPF’s investment plans.
Rosario3 confirms the Rosario talk and says Marín welcomed investors who back YPF through ONs and spoke of widening small investors’ role. The share and user figures come from iProfesional and iProUP, and we found no independent outlet carrying them.
How the YPF App Reached 1.5 Million Shares
YPF opened share purchases in the YPF app in August, without requiring the traditional brokerage account known as a cuenta comitente. El Economista reported on 21 September that Santander Argentina helped build the tool.
Before that, YPF split its shares to make them cheaper, and Forbes Argentina described the price moving from about ARS 82,900 (about US$55) to just over ARS 8,000 (about US$5). All peso amounts here use the central bank’s reference rate of ARS 1,518 per US$ on 16 October.
On 21 September YPF said buyers had passed one million shares, a month after launch, according to El Economista. Forbes Argentina added that 21,700 unique users had bought, half of them eight shares or fewer, for tickets of about ARS 8,435 (about US$6) to ARS 67,500 (about US$44).
On 16 October Marín said buyers had taken “in the order of a million and a half shares” in 45 days, averaging five shares a person, or ARS 40,000 (about US$26). He said the YPF app now has 300,000 such people, and iProfesional notes the app has more than three million active users.
That is consistent arithmetic, since 300,000 people at five shares each makes 1.5 million shares. It also implies about ARS 12 billion (about US$7.9 million) in total, by our own calculation, which is small beside the US$1.2 billion bond.
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Why YPF Wants Small Savers
Marín said the scheme began as a response to online scams that used YPF’s name, and that the company had filed about 250 criminal complaints. Forbes Argentina quoted him at an earlier event citing more than 200 complaints, so the two figures differ.
His reasoning was that people who had been targeted could instead buy real YPF shares in a regulated channel. He also said, as a personal opinion, that Argentina must end Ingresos Brutos, the provincial gross-turnover tax, or capital-market income will not grow.
iProfesional describes the app as a digital wallet that pays interest on balances and offers QR payments and a prepaid Mastercard. It says YPF now competes for savers’ balances with Mercado Pago, MODO and bank term deposits, and bonds would add another product to that contest.
What It Means for You
For a US investor, the announcement says nothing about New York shares, and the app sales are small beside a US$1.2 billion bond. What changes through the YPF app is the shareholder base at home, where hundreds of thousands of small buyers now hold a stake in the company.
Savers should remember that shares can fall as well as rise, and a bond carries the risk that the issuer cannot pay. No bond terms have been published, so the credit risk of any YPF peso or dollar issue for retail buyers cannot yet be judged.
Foreign visitors cannot assume they can use the YPF app to invest, because eligibility for non-residents has not been stated. Anyone considering it should read the issue terms once they are published.
What Is Not Known
The launch date, the size of any bond, the interest rate, the maturity and the minimum purchase have not been announced. Nor is it clear which regulator approvals are needed or whether pesos and dollar bonds will launch together.
Marín’s figures were spoken, and we found no company statement or exchange filing that repeats them. Forbes Argentina counted 21,700 unique users when buyers passed one million shares, against 300,000 people now, and we could not reconcile the two counts.
The reports quote Marín as saying five shares “means ARS 40,000”, which we read as the average spend per person. No outlet gives the share price on 16 October.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy bonds in the YPF app today?
No, because Marín described bonds as a coming step after shares. No launch date has been announced.
How many YPF shares has the YPF app sold?
Marín said about 1.5 million shares in 45 days, bought by roughly 300,000 people. The figures were given in a speech and no company statement repeating them was found.
What is an obligación negociable?
It is the Argentine term for a corporate bond, which a company issues to borrow from investors. YPF says the app would offer them in pesos and dollars.
Why is YPF selling to small investors?
Marín says the scheme began as an answer to online scams using YPF’s name, and that it aims to bring ordinary people into the capital market. Coverage in iProfesional adds that the company is competing for savers’ balances with payment wallets and banks.
Does this change YPF shares held by US investors?
Nothing in the announcement mentions the New York shares. It concerns the company’s app and its Argentine retail buyers.
Sources: iProfesional, 16 October 2026; iProUP, 17 October 2026; Rosario3 Ecos365, 16 October 2026; El Economista, 21 September 2026; Forbes Argentina, 22 September 2026; Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) reference exchange rate, 16 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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