Exchange control services

Foreign exchange controls are the various forms of controls imposed by the government on the:

• purchase or sale of foreign currencies by residents
• purchase or sale of local currency by non-residents

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has appointed Bidvest Bank as an Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange. An Authorised Dealer's function is to assist the SARB's Exchange Control division in administering exchange control to South African residents and businesses.

Full applications to the SARB's Exchange Control division need to be made through an Authorised Dealer like Bidvest Bank.

Bidvest Bank can assist corporate customers with a variety of different services:
 
Import payment facilitation

• As an intermediary, Bidvest Bank can facilitate financial transactions that need to be made if your business decides to import goods from an overseas supplier.

Export payment facilitation

• If you are exporting goods from South Africa and the value of the goods exceeds R50 000, the SARB's Exchange Control division must be informed. As an Authorised Dealer, Bidvest Bank can facilitate this reporting and assist with drawing payment from your overseas customers.

Customer Foreign Currency (CFC) accounts

• A Customer Foreign Currency account is designed for South African businesses with offshore trading liabilities, i.e. companies that are involved in import and/or export transactions, as well as service entities (shipping agents, freight forwarders and marine insurance brokers) that need to make foreign currency payments.
• CFC accounts can be held in the following currencies: US Dollars, Euros, Great British Pound and Australian Dollars,
• CFC accounts are subject to the SARB's corporate exchange control regulations.

Hedging strategy

Omnibus allowance

• The maximum amount of South African Rand that an individual adult can take out of South Africa in one calendar year is
  R750 000.
• In the case of an individual travelling on behalf of a business, situations can arise when this R750 000 allowance is exceeded. As an Authorised Dealer, Bidvest Bank can assist by extending the allowance by up to R4 million for your business purposes. For more information on this facility, please call Bidvest Bank's customer call centre on 0860 11 11 77.

Other exchange control-related queries