Instruction No. 01/96: Public Sale of Foreign Exchange - Regulation of Notice No. 08/96 of April 17

INSTRUCTION NO. 01/96
SUBJECT: PUBLIC SALE OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE
REGULATION OF NOTICE NO. 08/96
OF APRIL 17
Considering that one of the main objectives of the restructuring of the Angolan economy, no within the framework of the Government Program, is macroeconomic equilibrium based on the operation of market forces; Becoming indispensable, for this purpose, to regulate the practical procedures by which the public sale of foreign exchange established by Notice No. 08/96 of the National Bank of Angola will be governed; In the exercise of the competence attributed to me by the Organic Law of the National Bank of Angola; I HEREBY DETERMINE:
Article 1.
The public sale of foreign exchange system shall be directed by the National Commission for the Public Sale of Foreign Exchange constituted as follows:
a) The Governor of the National Bank of Angola or his substitute, who shall preside; b) An Administrator of the National Bank of Angola designated by the Board of Directors; c) The Directors of the areas of Reserve Management, Issuance and Credit, Studies and Statistics, and Banking Supervision.
Article 2
Participants in the public sale of foreign exchange session shall be a) The members of the National Commission for the Public Sale of Foreign Exchange; b) The representatives of the companies proposing to acquire foreign exchange duly accredited by said companies. c) The representatives of commercial banks duly accredited by said banks and whose mission shall be to monitor the public sale of foreign exchange session and sign the certificates of foreign exchange adjudication for the winning proposals that have indicated their institution for the purpose of financial intermediation. d) A representative of the Ministry of Finance and a representative of the Ministry of Commerce and Tourism.

Article 3.
The foreign exchange obtained through the public sale of foreign exchange system shall be used for the execution of merchandise import operations in accordance with the provisions of item a) of point 3 of Dispatch No. 007/95 of the Ministry of Commerce and Tourism, of April 28.
Article 4.
The National Commission for the Public Sale of Foreign Exchange is directly responsible for the operation and administration of the public sale of foreign exchange mechanism and shall have the following functions:
a) Establish for each public sale of foreign exchange session the minimum exchange rate and the amount of foreign exchange to be sold; b) Publish the date, time, and location of the public sale of foreign exchange sessions, with a minimum advance notice of three (3) business days (Annex 1); c) Open the envelopes containing the proposals in descending order of foreign exchange amounts and verify the requested amounts and the price offered per US dollar; d) Rank the proposals in descending order of the offered prices with a view to eliminating proposals that fall below the minimum exchange rate and those that are outside the limit of the amount of foreign exchange offered in each session; e) Supervise the sale of foreign exchange respecting the order referred to in items a) and d).
Article 5.
1- To establish the minimum exchange rate and the amount for sale in the session, the Commission for the Public Sale of Foreign Exchange shall meet behind closed doors fifteen (15) minutes before each session, with the mandatory presence of at least four (4) of its members. Once the minimum exchange rate and the amount for the sale for that day are decided, these values shall be recorded in minutes, to be drawn up and signed by all present before leaving the room where the meeting takes place. 2- The sales shall be carried out in lots of United States dollars whose minimum amount shall be published in a Notice announcing the holding of each session of public sale of foreign exchange.
Article 6.
1- The proposals shall be submitted in a sealed envelope, containing the offer on the form provided for this purpose at the National Bank of Angola (Annex 2). 2- The foreign exchange purchase proposals submitted by importing companies shall be accompanied by photocopies of the following documents:
a) Authorization issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Tourism confirming that the proposing company is duly registered as an importer; b) Certificate issued by the Tax Office, confirming the regularity of the tax obligations of the proposing company. 3- The envelopes containing the proposals shall be deposited in a specially provided and marked urn for this purpose, which shall be placed at the entrance of the room, with each proposer receiving a numbered ticket at the time of depositing the envelope. 4.- The proposals shall be deposited starting at 08:30 on the day of the sale session to which they relate, and the urn must be closed and locked fifteen (15) minutes before the start of the session.
Article 7
1- In a public session, and in the presence of at least four members of the National Commission for the Public Sale of Foreign Exchange, all envelopes containing the purchase proposals shall be opened. 2- After opening the envelopes, the National Commission for the Public Sale of Foreign Exchange shall rank the purchase proposals on a board visible to all present, and shall rank them in descending order of the offered exchange rates. Proposals that are above the minimum exchange rate and within the limit of the foreign exchange to be sold shall be accepted. 3- The price to be paid by the winning proposals shall be equal to the price stated in the purchase proposal. 4- If there are proposals with identical prices and the foreign exchange for sale is not sufficient to cover all of them, the adjudication of the foreign exchange shall be distributed proportionally to the amount proposed by all proposers, who may withdraw their proposal if they are not interested in the adjudication of specific amounts. 5- If there are no proposals, or if none of the proposals offer a price equal to or higher than the minimum exchange rate established by the commission, there shall be no sale of foreign exchange.
Article 8
Immediately after the sale session ends, the unaccepted proposals shall be returned to their respective proposers.
Article 9.
1- Upon completion of the public sale of foreign exchange session, each successful bidder shall receive a certificate confirming the volume of foreign currency acquired, according to the model in Annex No. 3, in their name. 2.- The aforementioned model, to be signed by the National Bank of Angola and the intervening financial institution, shall be prepared in triplicate, with the first copy for the successful bidder, the second for the operating commercial bank, and the third for the National Bank of Angola. 3.- The certificate also authorizes the National Bank of Angola to debit the deposit account of the commercial bank held at the National Bank of Angola, and the commercial bank must debit its client's deposit account within seventy-two (72) hours following the holding of the public sale of foreign exchange session. 4- For the full execution of the import operation, importing companies must present to the intervening financial institutions by the tenth (10th) business day after the adjudication of the foreign exchange, all necessary documentation; failing to do so within this period, the foreign exchange shall be compulsorily resold to the National Bank of Angola at the day's purchase rate minus 5% (five percent).
Article 10.
The commercial bank of the successful bidder must notify the National Bank of Angola by 12:00 (twelve o'clock) on the day following the holding of the public sale of foreign exchange session, of the availability of funds in the successful bidder's account for the purpose of executing the foreign exchange sale operation.
Article 11.
Any doubts and omissions resulting from the interpretation and application of this Instruction shall be definitively resolved by Dispatch of the Governor of the National Bank of Angola.
Article 12.
This Instruction enters into force immediately and repeals Instruction No. 04/94, of April 22. PUBLISH Luanda, April 18, 1996 THE GOVERNOR ANTÓNIO GOMES FURTADO ---