We present a set of current meter measurements collected in the southwest Atlantic from December 1993 to June 1995. Four moorings were set out to monitor the Malvinas (Falkland) Current at 40¿--41 ¿S, and one mooring was located within the Brazil-Malvinas Front area at 38 ¿S. The mean flow of the Malvinas Current has an equivalent barotropic structure, whereas the vertical structure of the variable part of the flow is dominated by a barotropic-like empirical mode for regions shallower than 2500 m, surface intensified, which appears as a linear combination of barotropic and baroclinic modes, suggesting mode coupling due to the steep topography. This mode appears to gradually become nearly exactly barotropic toward shallower depths. Higher empirical modes, bottom intensified and associated with higher frequencies, suggest waves trapped by the conjugated effects of topography and stratification. The time variability is discussed in terms of along- and cross-isobath flows. The along-shelf flow features substantial energy in the 50 to 70-day band. There is no evidence of an annual cycle nor of a distinct semiannual cycle, but there is a suggestion of significant energy at periods a little shorter (135 days). The cross-shelf variability is important, with a quite clear annual cycle, associated with excursions of the subantarctic front. Its phase coincides with that of the Brazil Current transport, suggesting that annual migrations of the front are predominately determined by the strength of the latter, whereas the intensity of the Malvinas Current would only have marginal impact, a conclusion that may not hold at other timescales. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union