Chapter One: Rules and Instructions in the Field of Dealing in Foreign Currency and the Foreign Exchange Market

1. Rules and Arrangements Issued Regarding the Regulation of Work in Tourist Establishments and Commercial Premises Whose Nature Requires Dealing in Foreign Currency

First: Establishments and Commercial Premises

Establishments and commercial premises whose nature requires dealing in foreign currency must deposit the foreign currency received from their sales of goods to the Egyptian National Bank, subject to the following:

(a) Deposit of the excess from the sale of goods within the tourist zone, including the request to sell goods within the tourist zone.

(b) The sale of foreign currency shares in exchange for Egyptian pounds, either through authorized banks or authorized entities dealing in foreign currency.

(c) In dealing with the Egyptian pound within the tourist zone, a maximum amount of 1,000 Egyptian pounds per individual is allowed, which is the amount allocated to tourists for a period not exceeding 116 days from the date of the CBE Circular No. 88 of 2003.

(d) The prices of goods sold in foreign currency must be clearly displayed on each item.

(e) Detailed receipts must be issued to buyers in foreign currency or Egyptian pounds, in a format or system designed for this purpose.

1. Decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on August 31, 2004.

Second: Free Markets

The receipt of foreign currency by the Egyptian National Bank from sales in areas where free markets are active is permitted, subject to CBE approval, while observing the following:

(a) These sales must be deposited with the CBE from the sale of goods on the establishment of a tourist zone.

(b) Observing the rules stipulated by the Ministry of Finance regarding the renewal of categories allocated for the sale of foreign currency goods in free markets, and setting the minimum amounts allocated for these categories.

(c) The sale of foreign currency shares in exchange for Egyptian pounds, either through authorized banks or authorized entities dealing in foreign currency.

(d) In dealing with the Egyptian pound within the tourist zone, a maximum amount of 1,000 Egyptian pounds per individual is allowed, which is the amount allocated to tourists for a period not exceeding 116 days from the date of the CBE Circular No. 88 of 2003.

2. Third: Table Games Clubs (Casinos) in Tourist Establishments:

Dealing in foreign currency by table games clubs (casinos) in tourist establishments is permitted, subject to the following: Approval of the Ministry of Tourism by the Central Bank of Egypt, as follows:

a- The operating company of the casino must keep its foreign currency balance - at a reasonable level - with the bank - licensed to implement the monetary arrangements established for the casino - in the name of the management of the aforementioned activities, against any liabilities arising from them, thereby not resorting to using any resources related to the foreign exchange market.

b- The aforementioned bank is responsible for monitoring the extent to which the use of the aforementioned balance is applied in accordance with the relevant clauses, while committing to the rules of the arrangements established regarding the rules of the foreign exchange market issued by the Central Bank of Egypt, as well as the provisions of the CBE Circular No. 88 of 2003, which is subject to implementation, as well as the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law No. 80 of 2002 issued by the Central Bank in this regard.

2. Decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on March 8, 2005.

3. Supplementary Rules to the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market Agreement:

.1 The working days in the interbank market are renewed to be 10 working days from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and no dealing is allowed after the official working hours.

.2 Dealing with non-participating banks in this agreement is treated as a bank dealing with its corporate customers.

.3 Banks are permitted to change the prices announced to their customers in the interbank market, provided they do not violate the restriction on the spread, provided that this is done in accordance with clause (4) paragraph (5) of the agreement regulating the foreign exchange market, which stipulates that the purchase price from customers must be lower than the purchase price from the interbank market, and the sale price to customers must be higher than the sale price in the interbank market.

.4 It is observed that the Central Bank is notified of a report on foreign exchange transactions with detailed breakdowns on the nature of the request from the Central Bank to the Monetary Affairs Department to identify foreign currency, in a new balance sheet for customer transactions, including the names of customers with a detailed breakdown, within a maximum period of ten days from the end of the month.

.5 The bank is permitted to purchase from the interbank market what meets the needs of its customers of foreign currency to settle debts that were previously borrowed for settlement purposes, without prior coordination with the Central Bank, provided that the Central Bank is notified of these transactions, with the bank undertaking not to grant loans in foreign currency to any party whose source of repayment for these loans is foreign currency.

.6 The outstanding debts of the operating company can be transferred to the customer, with prior coordination with the Central Bank.

.7 Forward foreign exchange transactions are reported as follows:

• Spot exchange rate.
• The interest differential between the currencies (Differential Interest) is reported separately.

.8 Banks are not liable for the execution of foreign currency transactions that violate the rules followed, issued by the Central Bank of Egypt, such as transactions that tighten the sale and purchase between customer parties. The Central Bank also requires that foreign currency transactions cannot be outside the framework of authorized banks or their exchange companies.

3. Letter from the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on December 21, 2004.
4. Letter from the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on August 11, 2009.
5. Letter from the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on February 24, 2005.

4. Mechanism for Purchasing or Selling US Dollars through Periodic Auctions (FX Auctions) Announced by the Central Bank of Egypt:

In the context of the Central Bank of Egypt's efforts to enhance the efficiency of the foreign exchange market and support the Egyptian pound, it has been decided to provide the following, based on the interbank foreign exchange market system, so that banks have more than one alternative for their foreign currency transactions. It has been decided to launch the following at the Central Bank of Egypt through periodic auctions for the purchase or sale of the US Dollar (FX Auctions), to which banks submit their offers, considered from the first working day of December 30, 2012. It is noted that the new mechanism will not affect the interbank foreign exchange market system, but rather serves as a supplement to it, operating from bank to bank.

The following are the conditions organizing the mechanism for purchasing or selling US dollars through periodic FX Auctions:

First: How and When to Announce Auctions

The Central Bank of Egypt, at the beginning of each week from Friday, announces on Reuters CBEO network: A- The weekly auction. B- The amount offered for purchase or sale.

Second: How to Submit Bids

A- On the working days of the auction, the auction is announced with its conditions and the required amount for purchase or sale by the Central Bank of Egypt at 10:00 AM on each working day from Friday on the Reuters CBEO network.

B- Offers are submitted by participating banks from the electronic dealing system (Reuters Dealing System), in a format limited to two separate electronic systems from the auction system, considered from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM. It is noted that any offer submitted after this period will be rejected.

6. Letter from the Head of the Investment Operations Department issued on December 30, 2012.

Third: Specifications of Allowed Bids

A- The auction is submitted with the lowest price for US dollars offered.

B- Each auction is priced in a four-digit decimal format (e.g., xxxx.x).

C- Each bank is allowed to submit more than one separate offer, at different prices, with a maximum of three offers.

D- The value of the auction offered by each bank cannot exceed 15% of the total required amount from the Central Bank of Egypt.

Auctions that do not meet the specified conditions will be rejected.

Fourth: Announcement of Auction Results

A- The auction results are announced 30 minutes after the submission deadline (i.e., 12:00 PM) from Friday on the Reuters CBEO network. The announced results will include the highest and lowest accepted prices, and the weighted average price of the accepted auctions.

B- For accepted offers, the purchase or sale for each bank will be at the price offered by its bank, based on the principle of Multiple Auction Price.

C- In all cases, the remaining amount will be rounded down to the nearest hundred.

D- The Central Bank of Egypt is allowed to reject any of the submitted auctions without giving a reason.

Fifth: Settlement Procedures

A- Transactions are settled spot, i.e., after two working days from the date of acceptance of the auction, unless otherwise announced.

B- The Central Bank of Egypt conducts the necessary purchase or additional transactions with participating banks in US dollars to Egyptian pounds to reflect the purchase or sale transactions concluded with them from the date of the implementation of this mechanism, on the date following the date of settlement of interbank dollar transactions.

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Sixth: The Central Bank of Egypt has the right to modify or cancel the offered auction as it decides alone, without giving any reasons.

4 (Non-Periodic US Dollar Auctions):

In the context of the continuous efforts of the Central Bank of Egypt to support the foreign exchange market in strengthening its permanent role in supporting the Egyptian pound, enhancing its efficiency, and keeping pace with the requirements of the global economy, the Central Bank of Egypt conducts auctions for the US dollar - as a complementary measure to periodic auctions - to meet the main demands at the bank, similar to periodic auctions which are offered weekly to facilitate the import of goods and strategic materials, for example:

• Basic essential food items (rice, sugar, oil, meat, wheat, fat, powdered milk or baby milk, eggs, lentils, butter, corn) excluding processed food items.
• Industrial goods and raw materials for production.
• Production machines and spare parts.
• Chemical fertilizers.

Participating banks in these auctions must ensure the following: .1 Verify that the documents submitted by customers to justify their value to the bank have not been used to obtain financing from another bank. .2 Deposit the excess amount of the amount transferred to the bank over the value of the customers' main requests for this purpose (each customer separately for this purpose), and the bank undertakes to sell this amount to the Central Bank of Egypt.

Banks must observe the highest degree of care to ensure compliance with the instructions issued by the Central Bank in this regard, noting that the Central Bank will send inspection teams to ensure the proper application of these instructions.

5 (Encouraging Egyptians to Convert Their Foreign Currency Savings Abroad to Egypt):

In the context of the Central Bank of Egypt's efforts to support the national economy in this period, and to encourage Egyptian natural persons to convert their foreign currency savings abroad to Egypt to invest them in foreign currency or Egyptian pounds in any of the different investment sectors, the following has been decided:

• The reward for Egyptian natural persons who convert their savings from abroad to Egypt, starting from February 10, 2013, is to convert the same value to Egypt through the same bank that performed the conversion when liquidating their investments in Egypt (provided that all supporting documents are submitted).

Each bank must issue the necessary receipts for its customers starting from February 5, 2013.

6 (Priority in Procuring Foreign Currency):

In light of the importance assigned by the Central Bank of Egypt to the principle of maintaining foreign currency reserves to ensure economic stability amidst the repercussions of the global period, banks are allowed the following:

• Establish a system to renew or grant requests from their customers for purchasing foreign currency from the reserves accumulated by the bank.
• Observing the granting of priority in procuring foreign currency for customers (natural persons - Americans) who have withdrawn foreign currency from them starting from August 1, 2013, and setting this amount as the withdrawn amount.
• Requiring the fulfillment of any additional procedures - regardless of their name - on foreign currency sale transactions to customers.
• Procuring foreign currency for customers who have reserves covering all their foreign currency transactions.

8. Letter from the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on February 4, 2013.
9. Letter from the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on January 14, 2013.
10. Letter from the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on July 31, 2013.
11. Letter from the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on February 19, 2014.
12. Letter from the Deputy Governor issued on March 30, 2014.

7 (Liberalizing the Exchange Rate):

In light of the Egyptian economy's need for monetary stability, the Central Bank has confirmed its commitment to maintaining low inflation rates. The Central Bank has decided to implement several measures to correct the exchange rate system from liberalizing exchange rates to granting a margin to commercial banks in Egypt to price the purchase and sale of foreign currency within legal limits, rather than setting the maximum market price for foreign currency, in accordance with the comprehensive reform program that includes the IMF's Extended Fund Facility program currently being implemented.

The completion of these monetary reforms enables the Egyptian economy to achieve the main reforms and unleash its capabilities towards sustainable growth in line with Egypt's available human and natural resources. In the context of implementing this decision to grant the maximum margin for the highest implementation period, the following has been decided: .1 Regarding bank working hours: Banks are allowed to open their branches until 9:00 PM and on weekends for the purpose of implementing foreign currency purchase and sale operations and withdrawing deposits for Egyptians working abroad without imposing any fees, and not implementing any other banking transactions, provided that the Supervision and Inspection Sector of the Central Bank of Egypt is notified of the details of these branches.

.2 Regarding priorities for currency procurement: The periodic letter issued by the letter of the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt dated February 4, 2013, which included the basic goods that banks must prioritize in procuring foreign currency when implementing their periodic operations, is repealed.

The responsibilities of the foreign exchange market are now at the highest level of responsibility of Egyptian banks, which requires each of these large responsibilities to achieve the desired purpose to be managed by senior management. They rely on their confidence that these responsibilities are in safe hands.

13. Letter from the Director issued on November 3, 2016 regarding the liberalization of exchange rates.

8 (Strengthening Supervision on Export Proceeds for Certain Products):

Starting from the Central Bank of Egypt's efforts to encourage commercial banks in the Egyptian market to continue supporting and encouraging export activities in all economic sectors, with its main goal of maintaining the balance of payments from foreign currency reserves, which has a positive impact on the global economy.

In this context, it has become necessary for some companies engaged in export activities to transfer the export proceeds for the goods they export (in accordance with their customers' requests) to foreign banks, which negatively affects the availability of foreign currency from customers. In this regard, we refer to the Minister of Trade and Industry Decision No. 235 of 2013 issued on April 18, 2013, and Decision No. 797 of 2015, which requires the implementation of export transactions for the aforementioned products through the best commercial banks to the banks of the Arab Republic of Egypt, proving this from the submission of a bank guarantee to the exporter before shipment.

In light of this, banks must observe the following measures to monitor the return of export proceeds related to the products subject to the aforementioned ministerial decision:

• The bank must issue the aforementioned guarantee before accepting the customer's request, which includes a period for the return of the export proceeds, and must follow up on the return of the proceeds from the specified period.
• The bank must obtain a copy of the instructions issued by the exporter containing the details of the export transaction for the bank itself.
• In case of failure to return the export proceeds within a maximum period of 180 days from the date of shipment - the exporter must prove the date of the return period, which does not exceed a maximum period of one year from the date of shipment - after the bank follows up with the customer in this regard, the bank must notify the Central Bank of Egypt of the customer's name and the customer's account number with the framework related to the Central Bank, so that the Central Bank can issue a directive to Egyptian banks to include the customer in the blacklist of non-performing customers, thereby not implementing any transactions involving the non-compliant customer in the future.
• The bank must also notify the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Export Sector) of the exporter, observing the necessary measures from its side.
• With regard to gold, given the nature of its trade movement: In case the export proceeds for gold operations do not arrive within a maximum period of 7 working days from the date of shipment - after the bank follows up with the customer in this regard - the bank must notify the Central Bank of the customer's name and the customer's account number with the framework related to the Central Bank, so that the Central Bank can issue a directive to Egyptian banks to include the customer in the blacklist of non-performing customers, thereby not implementing any transactions involving the non-compliant customer in the future. The following cases are exempted to follow up on the arrival of proceeds/receivables related to them within 30 working days from the date of shipment: -1 Gold export transactions for the purpose of manufacturing them abroad and then re-importing them, which relates to the follow-up of the return of semi-finished products. -2 Transactions from which gold is imported for manufacturing it locally and then exporting it, which relates to the follow-up of the return of receivables before manufacturing. Also, gold jewelry export transactions are exempted to follow up on the arrival of proceeds/receivables related to them within 75 days from the date of shipment, provided that the proceeds are in gold form, with banks committing to follow the necessary procedures to verify the validity of the transactions according to the study of each case. The bank must also notify the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Export Sector), the exporter, and the Customs Authority, observing the necessary measures from its side.

14. Letter from the Governor issued on April 28, 2013.
15. Letter from the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt dated December 18, 2022.
16. Letter from the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt dated August 19, 2024.
17. Letter from the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt dated October 23, 2023.
19. Periodic letter dated August 7, 2019 regarding the standards for practicing the activity of exporting and importing surplus foreign currency banknotes.

9 (Rules for Exporting Surplus Foreign Currency Banknotes Held by Banks Abroad):

In order to establish a standard to regulate this activity in the Egyptian market, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt, in its meeting held on August 5, 2019, decided to issue a standard for practicing the activity of exporting and importing surplus foreign currency banknotes, as follows: .1 Banks wishing to practice the activity of exporting and importing surplus foreign currency banknotes must submit a request to the Monetary Affairs Department in the Supervision Sector of the Central Bank of Egypt to issue a license for practicing this activity, by January 15 of each year, subject to the following conditions:

a- The bank must have an approved risk management system approved by the Board of Directors covering the transactions related to the export and import of foreign currency banknotes (banknotes), as well as the risk management systems related to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations.

b- The existence of a new system for internal supervision on transactions related to the activity of exporting and importing banknotes.

c- The bank must approve the contract before the management, the Board of Directors, the Compliance Department, before signing it with the related parties to the export and import of banknotes, and it must include the responsibilities of each party, as well as the regulations related to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations.

d- Employees concerned with this activity must undergo training on dealing with foreign currency banknotes, including training on the regulations related to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations, including those related to the activity of exporting and importing foreign currency banknotes.

.2 Banks are allowed to entrust/transfer the export and import of surplus foreign currency transactions to any company for the export of funds within the Arab Republic of Egypt, with prior approval from the Central Bank.

.3 Banks are allowed to deal with local institutions (banks/exchange companies) abroad to implement foreign currency export transactions, provided that they conduct a due diligence and credit study for these institutions before dealing with them, and a credit file is established for each institution, renewed annually, to cover the expected non-payment, with emphasis on the existence of the following minimum standards for these institutions: a- The institution must be subject to the latest financial statements and must have approval from the financial authorities for practicing this activity. b- At least one year must have passed since its establishment for this activity. c- It must not have been subject to fines or penalties from the financial authorities in the country where it operates, especially fines related to money laundering transactions for local funds. d- It must have an approved Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) system approved by the Board of Directors of the institution, which relates to the activity of shipping/exporting and importing foreign currency banknotes, as well as the necessary systems for applying them.

While observing the bank's value in diversifying the local institutions it deals with to ensure the continuity of the export activity and not concentrating it with a limited number of institutions.

.4 Banks must continuously evaluate the value of parties dealing with them in the activity of exporting and importing banknotes (e.g., insurance companies, transport companies, etc.).

.5 Banks implementing the following measures for those implementing the export and import of surplus foreign currency banknotes: a- The bank must ensure that the export will be carried out by the bank itself for practicing the activity of exporting and importing surplus foreign currency banknotes from the Central Bank of Egypt. b- The value of the export transaction in the current month must not exceed 100 million US dollars. c- Submit a declaration stating the existence of a balance sufficient to cover the required amount for export. d- Submit a declaration stating that the foreign currency banknotes required for export are deposited in the bank's vault. e- Publish the transactions required for export on the bank's Reuters page, including the details of this category without the minimum amount, on the working day before submitting the request to the Central Bank for approval for export, and a copy of the request for approval for export must be attached.

• The bank must submit the request for the export transaction to the Monetary Affairs Department of the Central Bank of Egypt at least two working days before the intended export date.
• The bank's declaration must commit fully to the value of the export transaction, in addition to the value of the deposit held by its correspondents abroad on the date of receipt. f- The bank must insure the banknotes required for export with one of the insurance companies. g- It is necessary to comply with the instructions issued by the Central Bank of Egypt regarding the ninth security clause, which included the insurance of Egyptian parties issued in 2018, renewing the insurance of fund transfer transactions between different monetary centers when transferring banknotes domestically, until compliance. h- The bank must submit to the Monetary Affairs Department of the Central Bank of Egypt a report on the transactions approved for export, as well as a justification for the exporter's request with a copy of the documents that clarify the bank's estimate of the actual value of the foreign currency banknotes in the currency of the correspondent banks before their export, plus ten days from the date of export.

.6 The Central Bank of Egypt has the right to cancel the license for practicing the activity of exporting foreign currency banknotes at any time without giving a reason.

.7 Regarding foreign currency banknotes not listed in the Central Bank of Egypt's list of foreign currency transactions, banks are allowed to deal with the relevant parties abroad for the activity of shipping/exporting and importing foreign currency banknotes, provided that the value of the shipping transaction in the current month does not exceed 10 million US dollars and does not exceed 2 million US dollars, each transaction is submitted separately to the Central Bank - the Monetary Affairs Department - for study and approval.

.8 In case of the bank's desire to import foreign currency banknotes, a request must be submitted explaining the bank's justification to the Monetary Affairs Department of the Central Bank of Egypt for study and approval.

Banks have been granted a six-month period to regularize their status from the date of issuance of these instructions.

10 (Rules for Importing Foreign Banknotes from Abroad):

In case the bank intends to import foreign currency from abroad, commercial banks in Egypt must submit import requests for foreign currency banknotes from abroad to the Monetary Affairs Department of the Central Bank of Egypt. The import request must include the following:

• The banknotes must be imported from the country of origin of the currency.
• The amount of currency imported from abroad must be sealed by the country of origin of the currency, such as: US Dollar (Federal Reserve Notes).
• Documents proving the import transaction, in addition to the insurance - country - insurance - tracking number - airline - cargo company.
• The bank will submit to the Monetary Affairs Department of the Central Bank of Egypt a copy of the approval for the import request, signed and justified by the exporter.

20. Letter from the Head of the Monetary Affairs Department issued on September 12, 2012.

11 (Foreign Investment Fund within the Framework of the Mechanism for Converting Foreign Investors' Funds):

First: Starting from March 17, 2013, the following will be implemented to convert the funds of foreign investors, which were issued by the letters of the Central Bank of Egypt dated November 12, 2000, June 27, 2002, and August 25, 2003, with the amendments included in the aforementioned instructions.

Second: The Foreign Investment Fund established at the Central Bank of Egypt will continue to serve as a mechanism to meet the needs of foreign investors for foreign currency when liquidating their investments in Egyptian securities.

21. Letters from the Governor issued on November 12, 2000, June 27, 2002, August 25, 2003, and March 13, 2013.

Third: The mechanism applies to the transactions of foreign investors in Egyptian securities, such as (listed shares on the Egyptian Exchange - Egyptian Treasury bonds), for example.

Fourth: The work will continue to open accounts in the name of the foreign investor at the main bank in the form of a deposit account, either in foreign currency or Egyptian pounds, as per the letter of the Central Bank dated June 27, 2002.

Fifth: The bank fee previously charged to encourage customers to submit requests from foreign investors to the mechanism is repealed, as it does not represent an incentive for their transactions in the aforementioned Egyptian securities.

Sixth: The main banks in the form of a deposit account will receive the requests of foreign investors...

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