- Argentina: The new economic measures in the emergency law passed on 7 January 2002 to deal with the crisis in the country are giving rise to serious concern among foreign investors. Peso-dollar parity has been abandoned (a dollar is now officially worth 1.4 pesos) but two sections of the law are of greater concern. The first controversial measure imposes a five year tax on oil and oil derivatives exports while the second covers telephone, electricity, gas and water charges which are now set in pesos rather than dollars. According to the Invertir Argentina foundation, foreign investment in Argentina reached nearly *98 billion between January 1994 and October 2001. The US invested the most ($28.6 bn or 31.92% of the total) followed by Spain ($25.6 bn or 28.5% of total FDI), France ($8.48 bn), Italy ($4.98 bn), Chile ($4.7 bn), the United Kingdom ($4.23 bn), Germany ($2.53 bn) and the Netherlands ($2.44 bn). This means that Spain is by far the biggest European investor. The Spanish oil company REPSOL alone has invested 69.02% of the total Spanish FDI in Argentina ($ 17.8 bn) by taking over the Argentine oil company YPF - YACIMIENTOS PETROLIFEROS FEDERALES in 1999. Since the recession hit the headlines, REPSOL's shares have fallen 7.85%. TELEFONICA, the biggest company on the Spanish stock exchange, was the second biggest Spanish investor in Argentina over the same period, investing $3.19 bn in fixed and mobile telephony, access to the internet and cable television. TELEFONICA's shares have lost 3% of their value. Spanish banks have invested $2.22 bn with SCH - SANTANDER CENTRAL HISPANO and BBVA - BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTINA taking controlling stakes in BANCO RIO and BANCO FRANCES respectively. The two Spanish banks have also invested $644 million in Argentine pension funds and the banks' shares have fallen by 4.37% and 3.25% respectively. Another notable big investor in Argentina, having invested $1.04 bn in gas, the generation of thermo power and windpower, is ENDESA. Other Spanish investors include the companies AGBAR - AGUAS DE BARCELONA (member of the SUEZ group), which has invested $236 million in water distribution, and the BTP company, DRAGADOS, that has invested $286 million in motorway construction. The newspaper Expansión reports that TELEFONICA, ENDESA and REPSOL-YPF intend to challenge the emergency measures in the courts.