2020-12-22

Notice No. 23/2020 of December 29

The National Bank of Angola issued Notice No. 23/2020 to establish unified rules and procedures for foreign exchange receipts and transfers abroad ordered by State organs, including direct and indirect administration bodies, the National Assembly, and superior justice authorities. The regulation mandates that banking financial institutions validate supporting documents, register operations in the SINOC system, and ensure settlement via bank transfers using either the ordering officer's own foreign currency or purchased foreign exchange. Non-compliance triggers penalties under existing foreign exchange and financial institution laws, while contracts exceeding USD 25,000 require formal validation and specific technical sheet registration.

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PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE, FIRST SERIES, NO. 211, OF DECEMBER 29 NOTICE NO. 23/2020 SUBJECT: FOREIGN EXCHANGE POLICY

  • Rules and Procedures for the Execution of Receipts and Transfers Abroad Ordered by State Organs

Whereas it is necessary to clarify the procedures for processing transfers abroad ordered by State Organs; In exercise of the competence conferred upon me by Article 40 of Law No. 16/10, of July 15 – National Bank of Angola Law, combined with paragraph 2 of Article 28 of Law No. 5/97, of July 27 – Foreign Exchange Law; I DETERMINE:

Article 1. (Subject Matter and Scope)

  1. This Notice establishes the rules and procedures for carrying out receipts and transfers abroad, of any nature, ordered by State Organs, including: a) Payments to international organizations; b) Payments for the acquisition of goods or contracting of services; c) Capital operations, namely: i. Foreign loans and respective repayments; ii. Receipt of donations from abroad.
  2. The provisions in the preceding paragraph apply to the following State Organs: a) Direct Administration bodies of the State, namely, the Presidency of the Republic, Vice-Presidency of the Republic and Ministerial Departments; b) Indirect Administration bodies of the State, namely, Autonomous Administrations and Public Institutes; c) National Assembly; d) Superior bodies of the Administration of Justice, namely, Superior Courts and the Attorney-General's Office.
  3. Public and mixed companies endowed with private law legal personality, having their own assets and exclusive capital, created by specific legislation for the exploration of economic activity, may take any legally admitted form, are excluded from the scope of this Notice.

Article 2. (Financial Intermediation) Within the framework of current legislation, the intermediation of operations covered by this Notice may only be carried out by a Banking Financial Institution authorized to conduct foreign exchange trading by the National Bank of Angola.

Article 3. (Exemption from Licensing)

  1. Foreign exchange operations covered by this Notice are exempt from licensing by the National Bank of Angola.
  2. The execution of operations is subject to their validation, registration and settlement in accordance with the provisions of this Notice.

Article 4. (Validation of Operations)

  1. Prior to their execution or registration, Banking Financial Institutions must ensure the legitimacy of each transfer abroad based on adequate procedures for that purpose and on the supporting documents presented.
  2. The procedures must include, among others considered necessary, the following: a) Validation of the competence of the person signing the request for execution of the operation, regardless of the payment method; b) Validation of the authenticity of supporting documents; c) Confirmation of the validity of documents in terms of dates; d) Confirmation of the existence of authorization by the Court of Auditors, when the operation so requires; e) Other procedures that allow the identification of situations suspected of money laundering or terrorist financing, in accordance with current regulations, including, whenever necessary, analysis of the payment beneficiary.
  3. Whenever the evaluation of operations referred to in the preceding paragraph gives rise to doubts, Banking Financial Institutions must request additional information and refrain from executing them until satisfactory clarification by the ordering officer.
  4. In payments for the import of goods, Banking Financial Institutions must validate the following documents, as applicable: a) Import License; b) Commercial Invoice; c) Transport Document; d) Single Document (Final DU); e) Supply Contract.
  5. In the execution of advance payments, Banking Financial Institutions must ensure receipt of the aforementioned documents within a maximum period of 180 days from payment, reporting to the National Bank of Angola any non-compliance in accordance with Article 12 of Notice No. 5/2018, of July 17.
  6. In payments for current invisible transactions, Banking Financial Institutions must validate the following documents, as applicable: a) Commercial Invoice or other collection document in cases of payments to international organizations; b) Service Provision Contract, when applicable.
  7. Contracts supporting operations to be carried out under this Notice must clearly identify the parties, including the complete address of each, the object in a clear and precise manner, the term, the rights and obligations of the parties, and the value of said contract.
  8. In situations where contracts include clauses providing for advance payments, they must also include the terms and conditions for reimbursement of advances, in case services are not provided or contracts are suspended.
  9. Contracts and invoices must be drafted in Portuguese, with those drafted in English or French equally admitted, provided that the Banking Financial Institution has internal capacity for adequate interpretation thereof.
  10. The proper execution of validation procedures for foreign exchange operations covered by this Notice must be guaranteed by the head of the foreign exchange control area or another senior executive of the Banking Financial Institution, designated for this purpose.
  11. Payments abroad for the acquisition of goods or services with a value exceeding USD 25,000.00 (Twenty-Five Thousand United States Dollars) or equivalent value must be supported by a contract.

Article 5. (Registration of Foreign Exchange Operations)

  1. Banking Financial Institutions must register all foreign exchange operations in SINOC at the moment of their execution.
  2. In cases where operations arise from contracts concluded between the parties, these must be registered in SINOC prior to the execution of any related operation.
  3. For the purpose of contract registration in SINOC, Banking Financial Institutions must insert a Technical Sheet with a summary of the contract terms, in the format set out in Annex I to this Notice and forming an integral part thereof, duly signed by a senior executive of the Institution, designated for this purpose, who is responsible for the veracity and completeness of its content.
  4. The National Bank of Angola establishes, for operational purposes, the classificatory table of foreign exchange operations, indicating the respective codes and definitions of classificatory categories, with a detailed description of the operations subject to this Notice.

Article 6. (Payment Modalities in Goods Import) In the import of goods, ordering officers may use the payment modalities they consider most appropriate, without any limitations on term or amount, namely, advance payments, documentary credits, collections or documentary remittances.

Article 7. (Settlement of Foreign Exchange Operations)

  1. The settlement of foreign exchange operations subject to this Notice may only be carried out through bank transfer.
  2. The beneficiary of the bank transfer must be the counterparty to the concluded contract, or, in case no contract exists, the issuer of the invoice, with Banking Financial Institutions ensuring that these are the holders of the beneficiary accounts for the transfers.
  3. The foreign exchange coverage for the settlement of operations subject to this Notice must be processed by using the ordering officer's own foreign currency funds, or by purchasing foreign currency from the Banking Financial Institution.
  4. The ordering officer's account in national currency (in case of purchasing foreign exchange) or the account in foreign currency (in case of using client's own resources) must be debited on the date of execution of the transfer abroad.

Article 8. (Penalties) Non-compliance with the provisions of this Notice is punishable in accordance with Law No. 5/97, of June 27 – Foreign Exchange Law, and Law No. 12/15, of June 17 – Framework Law for Financial Institutions.

Article 9. (Doubts and Omissions) Doubts and omissions resulting from the interpretation and application of this Notice are clarified by the National Bank of Angola.

Article 10. (Repealing Provision) All provisions contrary to the provisions of this Notice are hereby repealed.

Article 11. (Entry into Force) This Notice enters into force on the date of its publication. PUBLISH. Luanda, December 22, 2020. THE GOVERNOR JOSÉ DE LIMA MASSANO

ANNEX I CONTRACT TECHNICAL SHEET

  1. INTRODUCTION This technical sheet aims to systematize the information contained in the contract concluded between (contracting company) and (contracted company), valued at (contract value), with a validity period of (validity period), and having as its object (object of the contract).
  2. INTERESTED PARTIES 2.1. CONTRACTING PARTY | Field | Description | |---|---| | Name | (name) | | Headquarters | (headquarters) | | Tax ID/Reg. No. | (Tax ID) | | Legal Representative | (legal representative; position) | | Social Object | • (social object)<br><br>• | | Share Capital¹ | (share capital) | | Shareholder Structure², ³ | • (partner; capital percentage)<br><br>• |

¹ Relative to 20xx ² Relative to 20xx. ³ The Shareholder Structure must be filled in only for: the submission of the first contract to the BNA regarding the contracting party in question, and/or whenever there are changes thereto.

2.2. CONTRACTED PARTY

FieldDescription
Name(name)
Headquarters(headquarters)
Tax ID/Reg. No.(Tax ID)
Legal Representative(legal representative; position)
Social Object• (social object)<br>• (…)<br>• (…)
Share Capital¹(share capital)

¹ Relative to 20xx 3. CONTRACT

FieldDescription
Object• (object)<br>• (…)<br>• (…)
Signing Date(signing date)
Validity Period(validity period)
Guarantees• (guarantee)<br>• (…)
Global Value(global contract value)
Payment Method(payment method)
Applicable Legislation(applicable legislation)

(Authorized Bank Signature)