BCTL Instruction no. 4/2017; On the Importation and Exportation of Cash

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BCTL INSTRUCTION NO. 4/2017
On the Importation and Exportation of Cash

Article 6 of Decree-Law No. 20/2003, of November 13, On Legal Tender in Timor-Leste, establishes restrictions on the importation and exportation of cash, and the provisions of Article 7 of the same instrument determine that all those wishing to import and export cash to and from Timor-Leste are subject to the procedures and regulations of the Central Bank of Timor-Leste in this matter.

Taking into consideration the need to adapt the current regulation to the Legal Regime for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing approved by Law No. 17/2011, of December 28, in its current wording, as well as the benefits to society resulting from control and restriction on the physical transport of cash to and from the territory of Timor-Leste, it is essential to have new regulation regarding the importation and exportation of cash.

Thus, in accordance with the provisions of Article 67 of Law No. 5/2011, of June 15 (Organic Law of the Central Bank) and Articles 6, 7, and 13 of Decree-Law No. 20/2003, of November 13, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Timor-Leste resolves to approve the following Instruction:

Article 1.
Definitions

In this Instruction, unless otherwise indicated, the terms below shall have the following meaning:

a). "Authorization" means Cash Transport Authorization granted by the BCTL in accordance with this Instruction;

b). "BCTL" means the Central Bank of Timor-Leste constituted in accordance with Law No. 5/2011, of June 15;

c). "Export" means the Transport of Cash out of the territory of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste;

d). "Import" means the Transport of Cash into the territory of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste;

e). "Official Currency of Timor-Leste" or "Official Currency" has the meaning attributed to it by Decree-Law No. 20/2003, of November 13, On Legal Tender in Timor-Leste;

f). "Foreign Currency" has the meaning attributed to it by Decree-Law No. 20/2003, of November 13, On Legal Tender in Timor-Leste;

g). "Cash" has the meaning attributed to it by Decree-Law No. 20/2003, of November 13, On Legal Tender in Timor-Leste;

h). "Person" has the meaning attributed to it by Decree-Law No. 20/2003, of November 13, On Legal Tender in Timor-Leste;

i). "Transport" means the Import or Export of Cash from or into the territory of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, by the Person themselves or through third parties, regardless of the means of transport.

Article 2.
Scope of Application

This Instruction applies to any Person, national or foreign, who carries out the Transport of Cash, to or from the territory of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, in Legal Tender in Timor-Leste or in any Foreign Currency.

Article 3.
Importation and Exportation of Cash

1. The Import or Export of Cash to or from Timor-Leste, in Official Currency or Foreign Currency, whose amount is equal to or greater than USD 20,000 (twenty thousand United States dollars) is not permitted without Authorization.

2. The Import or Export of Cash to or from Timor-Leste, in Official Currency or Foreign Currency, whose amount exceeds the value registered in the Authorization is not permitted.

3. The Import or Export of Cash to or from Timor-Leste, in Official Currency or Foreign Currency, whose amount is equal to or greater than USD 150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars) is not permitted, except in the following situations:

a). in the case of Import or Export carried out by a bank or financial institution duly licensed to operate in Timor-Leste, without prejudice to the fact that such Import or Export must be communicated to the BCTL and authorized by it;

b). in exceptional situations, where the restriction on the Import or Export of cash provided for in this paragraph causes serious prejudice to the respective Person;

c). situations likely to cause serious prejudice, in accordance with the previous letter, include:
(i). medical emergency situations;
(ii) Imports or Exports of Cash, to or from Timor-Leste, duly justified, which, if carried out through banking institutions or others, are subject to excessive or unmanageable costs and charges for the respective Person, or which cause significant prejudice to them.

d). the situations referred to in letter c) of this paragraph are subject to the authorization procedures provided for in this Instruction.

Article 4.
Cash Transport Authorization

1. Any Person who wishes to Transport Cash to or from Timor-Leste, which exceeds the amount referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 2, must request the respective Authorization from the BCTL in accordance with this Instruction and present it to the Timor-Leste customs authorities at the time of entry or exit from the national territory.

2. The Authorization granted by the BCTL shall have a maximum validity of 20 (twenty) business days counted from the date of its issuance, and the validity to be attributed by the BCTL shall be stated in the said Authorization.

3. The Authorization is valid for a single Import or Export of Cash.

4. Except in the cases referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 3, Authorizations shall not be granted to Persons who have requested one in the previous three months, or if the BCTL suspects that the Transport, even if carried out by third parties, is intended for or originates from a Person who has requested an Authorization in the previous three months.

5. The BCTL may impose additional conditions on the transport of cash, which must be indicated in the Authorization.

Article 5.
Process for Granting Cash Transport Authorization

1. Whoever finds themselves in the situation provided for in paragraph 1 of the previous article must submit the Authorization request to the BCTL, in writing, using the form contained in Annex I to this Instruction.

2. The Authorization request must be submitted with a minimum advance of 5 (five) business days relative to the proposed Transport date.

3. Any Authorization request submitted outside the period referred to in the previous paragraph shall be classified as "Urgent".

4. The BCTL shall grant or reject the Authorization by the proposed date for the Transport, and in the event that such grant or rejection does not occur, the request is considered as denied.

5. The requests must be signed by the Person who intends to carry out the Cash Transport and, in the case of legal entities, by whoever legally binds that legal entity.

6. Authorization requests are submitted together with the following documentation, and the BCTL may require any additional documentation or information:

a). a signed written declaration stating that the applicant has never been convicted or if there is any pending process against them related to crimes of money laundering, terrorist financing, or tax evasion or fraud, as well as that they are not subject to any bankruptcy or insolvency process;

b). when applicable, cash transport authorization issued by the competent authorities of the foreign country from which the Import of Cash originates;

c). document proving ownership of the Cash;

d). proof of payment of the processing fee for the Authorization request.

7. Authorization requests must be addressed to:
   Central Bank of Timor-Leste
   Financial System Supervision Department
   Licensing and Regulation Division
   Avenida Xavier do Amaral, No. 9, Dili, Timor-Leste E-mail: dsfilicensing@bancocentral.tl

Article 6.
Urgent Requests

1. In the case of requests classified as "Urgent" in accordance with paragraph 3 of the previous article, and in the case of Export, the Cash to be transported must be delivered to the BCTL, which shall grant or reject the respective Authorization within 48 (forty-eight) hours.

2. In the event that the Authorization is granted, the cash referred to in the previous paragraph is delivered to the respective Person who requested the Authorization.

3. In the event that the Authorization referred to in paragraph 1 is rejected, the cash is, by the BCTL:

a). sent to a bank account located at a banking institution abroad, indicated by the requesting Person, with all charges and expenses borne by this person;

b). in the case of well-founded suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing, seized in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 7 of Law No. 17/2011, of December 28, and the process forwarded to the competent judicial authority.

4. In the case of requests classified as "Urgent" in accordance with paragraph 3 of the previous article, and in the case of Import, the Applicant must submit the Authorization Request accompanied by the payment of the respective fee to the BCTL, which shall grant or reject the respective Authorization within 72 (seventy-two) hours.

5. In the event that the BCTL does not grant or reject the Authorization within the time limits provided for in paragraphs 1 and 4 of this article, the request is considered as denied.

Article 7.
Fees

1. For the processing of the Cash Transport Authorization request, in accordance with Article 70 of Law No. 5/2011 of June 15 (Organic Law of the Central Bank), the following fees must be settled at the time of its presentation to the BCTL:

a). for the processing of a non-urgent Authorization request: USD 100 (one hundred United States dollars);

b). for the processing of an urgent request: USD 300 (three hundred United States dollars).

2. In the cases of implicit denial provided for in Article 5, paragraph 4 and Article 6, paragraph 5, the fee amounts must be returned to the applicants within a maximum period of 7 (seven) business days.

Article 8.
Multiple Transport

1. When customs authorities suspect that one or more Persons are carrying out multiple Transports of Cash or that a group of Persons is transporting Cash with the objective of avoiding the import limits defined in this Instruction, they shall seize the transported Cash and deliver it to the BCTL accompanied by a descriptive declaration of the facts and the seizure.

2. The declaration referred to in the previous paragraph must be immediately transmitted to the competent judicial authority.

3. The BCTL shall, within a period of 10 (ten) business days, investigate the facts to determine the true ownership of the seized Cash.

4. In the event of concluding that the transported Cash is intended for or originates from a single Person, the BCTL shall apply the sanction provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 9.

Article 9.
Sanctions

1. Violation of the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 3 is subject to a fine of 20% (twenty percent) of the amount of Cash transported or to be transported, up to a maximum of USD 5,000 (five thousand United States dollars).

2. Violation of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 3 is subject to a fine of 50% (fifty percent) of the excess amount relative to the value registered in the Authorization, up to a maximum of USD 5,000 (five thousand United States dollars).

3. Negligence is punishable, with the amounts of the respective fine reduced by 30% (thirty percent).

4. The fines provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 are applied by deduction from the amount of Cash to be transported to or from Timor-Leste.

5. From the application of sanctions under this article, judicial appeal lies in accordance with general terms.

6. The application of sanctions by the BCTL under this article depends on a prior investigation process, and the right to adversarial proceedings and defense must be guaranteed.

7. The application of a sanction by the BCTL must be accompanied by a written and reasoned decision.

8. The provisions of this article do not prejudice the application of other sanctions and measures provided for by law or regulation.

Article 10.
Revocation

This Instruction revokes Public Instruction No. 4/2009 On Importation and Exportation of Cash approved by the Banking and Payments Authority of Timor-Leste through the Board of Directors Resolution No. 08/2009 approved on September 2, 2009.

Article 11.
Publication and Entry into Force

1. In accordance with Article 66, paragraph 1 of the Organic Law of the Central Bank, this Instruction shall be published in the Official Gazette.

2. This Instruction enters into force thirty days after the date of its publication.

Approved on March 28, 2017

The Governor,
[Signature]
Abraão de Vasconcelos

CASH TRANSPORT AUTHORIZATION REQUEST

The obligation to obtain a Cash Transport Authorization to and from Timor-Leste is provided for in Decree-Law No. 20/2003 of November 13 and in BCTL Instruction No. 4/2017.

Please send this form, duly completed, to:

Financial System Supervision Department
Central Bank of Timor-Leste
Avenida Xavier do Amaral, No. 9
Dili, Timor-Leste

The form, duly completed, may also be sent via email to the following address: dsfilicensing@bancocentral.tl

Unless expressly indicated, all fields are mandatory.

APPLICANT DATA AND TRANSPORT DETAILS

a) Applicant

1. Name / designation: [________________________________________________________________]
2. Identification Number (passport, identity card, voter registration, commercial registry):
   New [ ]
   Old [ ]
   [________________________________________________________________]
3. Gender: M [ ] F [ ]
4. Nationality: [________________________________________________________________]
5. Area of Activity: [________________________________________________________________]
6. Occupation: [________________________________________________________________]
7. Date and Place of Birth / Registration: [________________________________________________________________]
8. Other Professional Activities if applicable: [________________________________________________________________]
9. Name of Employer if applicable: [________________________________________________________________]
10. Address: [________________________________________________________________]

b) Cash

11. Currency in words: [________________________________________________________________]
12. Amount in words: [________________________________________________________________]
13. Origin of funds: [________________________________________________________________]
14. Destination of funds: [________________________________________________________________]
15. Document proving origin / ownership of funds: [________________________________________________________________]
16. Full identification of the owner of the funds if not the Applicant: [________________________________________________________________]
17. Path of funds (countries, cities, and regions) from the point of origin to the point of destination: [________________________________________________________________]
18. Means of transport to be used: [________________________________________________________________]
19. Objective of the operation: [________________________________________________________________]

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