1991-10-15

Notice No. 03/91 of October 16

The Bank of Angola issued Notice No. 03/91 to delegate foreign exchange licensing and operational authority to authorized financial institutions, effectively separating commercial banking activities from central bank functions. The directive mandates that all foreign exchange settlements, including previously licensed transactions, require prior approval from the Foreign Exchange Management Commission until pending external commitments are resolved. It further establishes coverage guarantees, position limits, and regulatory frameworks for invisible and merchandise transactions while reserving state budget-funded settlements exclusively for the Central Bank.

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NOTICE No. 03/91 of October 16 Whereas it is the responsibility of the Bank of Angola to define the principles governing operations involving gold and foreign exchange, as well as to establish the limits on gold and foreign exchange availability that institutions authorized to conduct foreign exchange trading may hold in deposit, as provided for in Article 42, paragraphs a) and c), of the current Organic Law; The aforementioned measures constitute an indispensable instrument of exchange rate policy, whose main objective is to maintain the country's external reserves at a level adequate for international transactions; The Bank of Angola may delegate to other national credit institutions, in whole or in part, the competence attributed to it in the Exchange Law approved by Law No. 9/88 of July 2, and the resulting Decrees 11, 12, and 13/89, as established in Article 37 of the aforementioned Exchange Law; It is imperative to separate the foreign exchange operations of Financial Institutions with companies and individuals from the typical activities of a Central Bank, to enable the country's new financial system and the effective application of monetary and exchange policy instruments; It is necessary to schedule the cessation of banking trade activities by the Bank of Angola, to comply with Article 22 of Law 4/91 of April 20, while adapting it to the capacity of other institutions to assume these services. In exercise of the authority vested in me by Article 60 of the Organic Law of the Bank of Angola, I determine: Article 1 Foreign exchange operations shall only be conducted by Financial Institutions authorized by law or by decree of the Minister of Finance, and within the limits and conditions established through delegated competence by the Central Bank. Article 2 While the current phase of pending external commitments persists, the settlement of all foreign exchange operations, including those already licensed, depends on prior authorization from the Foreign Exchange Management Commission established by Order No. 69/91 of September 20, 1991, issued by the Governor of the Bank of Angola.

Article 3

  1. Competence to license and conduct foreign exchange operations for current invisible transactions is delegated to banking institutions, under the terms and conditions to be published by the Bank of Angola.
  2. For the settlement of the aforementioned foreign exchange operations, coverage guarantee from the Bank of Angola shall be provided, through the rebalancing of the operating bank's foreign exchange availability to the position limit to be fixed by order of the Governor. Article 4 The initial establishment of this availability, the periodic rebalancing of foreign exchange positions to the established limit, and other operational procedures shall comply with the Foreign Exchange Operations Regulation and the Foreign Exchange Position Limits Regulation, to be published by the Bank of Angola. Article 5 Foreign exchange operations related to merchandise may be conducted by commercial banks, subject to prior licensing. Article 6
  3. The execution of foreign exchange operations, of any nature, whose internal settlement must be made with resources from the State Budget, is the exclusive competence of the Central Bank and shall only be carried out after the resources are made available by the Ministry of Finance.
  4. Other Financial Institutions may only conduct the operations referred to in the preceding paragraph after express authorization from the Governor of the Central Bank. Article 7 This Notice enters into force immediately. PUBLISH Luanda, October 16, 1991. THE GOVERNOR, Fernando Alberto da Graça Teixeira