Central Bank of Tunisia Circular to Approved Intermediaries No. 2016-09 dated December 30, 2016

Tunis, December 30, 2016
CIRCULAR TO APPROVED INTERMEDIARIES No. 2016-9 * OBJECT: Current Account Transfers.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia;
Having regard to Law No. 2016-35 of April 25, 2016, establishing the statutes of the Central Bank of Tunisia; Having regard to the Exchange and Foreign Trade Code promulgated by Law No. 76-18 of January 12, 1976, governing relations between Tunisia and foreign countries, as amended by subsequent texts, notably Law No. 93-48 of May 3, 1993; Having regard to Decree No. 77-608 of July 27, 1977, setting the implementation conditions for the Exchange and Foreign Trade Code, as amended by subsequent texts, notably Decree No. 93-1696 of August 16, 1993; Having regard to Circular No. 93-21 of December 10, 1993, regarding current account transfers, as amended by subsequent texts; Having regard to Opinion No. 7 of the Compliance Control Committee of December 12, 2016, as provided for in Article 42 of Law No. 2016-35 of April 25, 2016; Decides:

Article 1: This circular aims to establish the rules for implementation by Approved Intermediaries of current account transfers, as referenced in Article 12 bis of Decree No. 77-608 of July 27, 1977, as amended by subsequent texts, excluding those governed by specific regulations.

Section 1: Procedures and Conditions for Implementation of Transfers:
Article 2: Current account transfers subject to this circular are executed upon presentation of appropriate documents endorsed by the resident operator, according to conditions specific to each operation as indicated in Annex No. 1 and fixed by the following articles.
However, for all public sector current account operations that have been subject to a decree exempting the concerned Tunisian party from any exchange and foreign trade formalities, approved intermediaries shall settle the service provider or non-resident supplier upon presentation of said decree.

Paragraph 1: Current Account Transfers for Service Provision:
Article 3: Service provisions covered in paragraphs B1 to B10 and paragraph I-2 of Annex No. 1 must be invoiced excluding accommodation expenses. They must be non-fixed and measurable by quantifiable units indicated in the contract between the resident and non-resident parties.
The supporting documents cited in Annex No. 1, required for executing current account transfers for service provisions under the first paragraph of this article, must clearly indicate:

• the names and residence locations of the contracting parties;
• the contract conclusion date and duration of the operation(s);
• the detailed nature of services or technical assistance provided;
• the agreed remuneration, unit of work, unit cost, and related settlement terms.

Article 4: When payment to a non-resident service provider is structured as a proportional royalty (based on turnover, profits, value added, quantities produced, etc.), the amount to be transferred must be justified by a detailed calculation statement of royalties prepared by the resident operator.

Article 5: Without prejudice to Article 3, payments ordered by commercial companies under technology transfer contracts referenced in paragraph B-6 of Annex No. 1 are executed only when these companies meet the conditions set by prevailing regulations or are approved for this purpose by the Ministry in charge of commerce.

Article 6: No service category provided by this circular and its Annex No. 1 is deemed to include head office expenses, which are general charges incurred by a parent company and allocated to its subsidiaries established in various countries, primarily comprising accounting, administrative, financial, and human resources services. Approved intermediaries may not execute transfers for head office expenses under this circular.
When an approved intermediary has valid reasons to believe that a transfer requested under a service provision category may constitute a head office expense transfer, it must suspend the operation and immediately inform the Central Bank of Tunisia.

Paragraph 2: Current Account Transfers for Contracts Executed Abroad:
Article 7: Payments for works, studies, supervision, control, and other services contracts executed abroad (referenced in paragraph J-1 of Annex No. 1) require the domiciliary approved intermediary to prepare a settlement statement per market, following the model in Annex No. 2.
The contract holder must provide all supporting documents for repatriations executed under the market, including those handled by another approved intermediary.

Article 8: When these contracts are executed by an economic interest grouping of resident companies with a lead company, the latter may pay the shares definitively due to co-holders via transfer from its foreign currency professional account to the respective foreign currency professional accounts of the co-holders.
The paying approved intermediary indicates in the SWIFT message or other transfer execution document that the amount falls within an abroad-executed contract grouping.

Paragraph 3: Advance Payments:
Article 9: Approved intermediaries are authorized to process advance payments upon request by resident companies, required as settlement for services under this circular, subject to the issuance in favor of the resident company by the non-resident service provider's foreign bank of a first-demand advance refund guarantee.
The guarantee is not required for advances related to services within the company's goods or services production cycle, provided the advance does not exceed 25% of the operation value.

Paragraph 4: Current Account Transfers for Salary Savings:
Article 10: Provided they are linked to the contract/engagement duration and the residence permit validity issued by Tunisian authorities, salary savings covered in paragraphs K-9, K-10, and K-11 of Annex No. 1 may be transferred upon the interested party's request after the contract validity expiration date, within a maximum of 3 months from said date.
Foreign employees married to residents, whether contractual or cooperative, cannot benefit from salary savings transfers.

Section 2: Execution of Transfers:
Article 11: Transfers under this circular are executed via bank transfers or checks payable to non-resident beneficiaries.

Article 12: Approved Intermediaries may, however, hand over foreign banknotes for operations under this circular exclusively to the following beneficiaries:

• non-resident natural persons.
• Tunisian sports teams participating in international competitions.
• representatives of public establishments organizing Tunisian company participation in foreign fairs or exhibitions.
• natural persons of foreign nationality working in Tunisia as contractual employees or cooperators.
• Tunisian natural persons residing abroad recruited by a foreign parent company and seconded to its Tunisian subsidiaries.
• State, local authority, administrative public establishment, and public enterprise personnel participating in short-term seminars, congresses, conferences, training, and other events abroad, transferring accommodation expenses at their own charge.

Article 13: The handover of foreign exchange in cash or by checks requires the issuance by the approved intermediary of a foreign exchange export authorization per prevailing exchange regulations.

Article 14: When payment by resident companies for transactions under paragraph H-1 of Annex No. 1 is required online, the transfer may be executed via a specialized international nominative payment card called the "Carte Technologique Internationale", valid for one calendar year.
To this end, the approved intermediary is authorized to issue to any company engaged in telecommunications, IT, education, higher education, research, consulting, or related activities upon request, a maximum annual allocation of 10,000 Tunisian dinars (10,000 DT), transferable in one or multiple installments to execute payments under the first paragraph using the "Carte Technologique Internationale". In this case, the approved intermediary must require a copy of the commercial register extract, statutes, and deposit attestation from the Agency for the Promotion of Industry and Innovation (or other authorized body), justifying the beneficiary company's activity conditions.

Article 15: When payment by natural persons for transactions under paragraph H-4 of Annex No. 1 is required online, the transfer may be executed via a specialized international nominative payment card called the "Carte Technologique Internationale", valid for one calendar year.
To this end, the approved intermediary is authorized to issue to any Tunisian resident natural person holding at least a baccalaureate-equivalent diploma upon request, a maximum annual allocation of 1,000 Tunisian dinars (1,000 DT), transferable in one or multiple installments using said card.

Article 16: The issuance of transferable allowances via the "Carte Technologique Internationale" requires signing a sworn statement per Annex No. 3 model, certifying that the interested party has not obtained another allowance of the same type from another approved intermediary and uses it exclusively for the aforementioned transactions.

Article 17: Any natural or legal person not meeting the conditions but justifying the need for the "Carte Technologique Internationale" or a higher allocation than fixed in Articles 14 and 15 may submit Form F2 to the Central Bank of Tunisia, supported by a favorable opinion from the Ministry in charge of communication technologies and the digital economy.

Article 18: Renewal for a new calendar year of the "Carte Technologique Internationale" allowance occurs upon written request to the same intermediary that issued the previous card, presenting the fiscal declaration of the preceding year duly endorsed by the Tax Administration.
When this declaration cannot be provided at the start of the calendar year, the approved intermediary may issue the allowance upon presentation of the prior-year fiscal declaration endorsed by the Tax Administration, provided the holder submits the current year's declaration by July 15 at the latest. If the new declaration is not submitted within this period, the approved intermediary must immediately suspend allowance usage and inform both the Central Bank of Tunisia and the cardholder.

Article 19: All supporting documents for transfers under this circular must be presented in original. Except for those destined for the intermediary itself, the approved intermediary returns the original to the operator after endorsement and retains a copy.
The domiciliary approved intermediary must also retain all required supporting documents for these transfers in accessible files for control purposes.

Article 20: Operations involving split, staggered, or periodic payments, as well as contracts covering multiple current account operations, must be domiciled with a single approved intermediary.
Change of domiciliation to another approved intermediary requires a closure attestation from the domiciliary intermediary specifying amounts already transferred.
When concerning payments for abroad-executed works, studies, supervision, control, and other services (paragraph J of Annex No. 1), this closure attestation must also specify repatriated amounts and be accompanied by a copy of the contract and settlement statement per Article 7.

Article 21: Without prejudice to conditions of this circular, current account payments must be executed according to contractual agreements; net of all Tunisian taxes and VAT or assimilated taxes invoiced by the non-resident service provider.
Outward transfers for operations under this circular require a tax regularization or exemption certificate issued by competent fiscal authorities, where required by Article 112 of the Tax Code and Decree No. 2008-1858 of May 13, 2008.

Section 3: General Provisions:
Article 22: When a contract with a non-resident provides for a dinar portion representing local expenses, it must be held in a special dinar account governed by Exchange Opinion No. 5 of October 5, 1982, as amended by Opinions No. 6 and 8. Opening this account does not require Central Bank of Tunisia contract approval.
When a non-resident entrepreneur, supplier, or service provider credits their special dinar account by importing foreign exchange to cover local expenses pending settlement from the resident contracting party, the approved intermediary managing the account may retransfer the dinar counter-value once account balances cover the transfer.

Article 23: Payments for equipment and supplies imports under any contract subject to this circular (enterprise, study, works contracts, etc.) must follow foreign trade procedures.

Article 24: Resident operators may pay in dinars for transport and accommodation expenses of non-resident natural persons (technicians, experts, consultants, speakers, interpreters, sports teams, referees, etc.) they invite to Tunisia under this circular.
To this end, transport companies and travel agencies are authorized to accept dinar payments by resident operators for transport titles issued upon operator attestation indicating beneficiary identity, status, and operation purpose.

Article 25: Approved intermediaries are authorized to issue, upon request and with counter-guarantee from a non-resident bank, standard banking guarantees required by resident operators from non-resident service providers under enterprise/works/service contracts, as well as payment guarantees by resident importers for purchases from non-resident suppliers per prevailing regulations.

Article 26: Resident operators must retain, in easily accessible files for control purposes, all documents justifying payability to non-resident beneficiaries for any operation under this circular.

Section 4: Information to the Central Bank of Tunisia:
Article 27: The information procedure by Approved Intermediaries to BCT regarding transfers (including cash) is governed by Circular No. 97-02 of January 24, 1997, regarding information sheets.

Article 28: For allowances granted via "Cartes Technologiques Internationales", intermediaries submit a monthly report on file per Annex No. 4 model of allowances transferred during the previous month.
This report must reach BCT via SED by the 10th of the following month (file name: CATEIN, format: EXCEL.xls).

Article 29: The approved intermediary submits quarterly statements with cumulative situations for abroad-executed contracts domiciled with its services, per Annex No. 2.
These statements must reach BCT via SED by the 10th of the month following the quarter (file name: DECOMARC, format: EXCEL.xls).

Section 5: Miscellaneous Provisions:
Article 30: All provisions contrary to or duplicating this circular are repealed, notably Circular No. 93-21 of December 10, 1993 regarding current account transfers.

LE GOUVERNEUR
CHEDLY AYARI

ANNEX NO. 1 TO THE CIRCULAR TO APPROVED INTERMEDIARIES No. 2016-9 OF DECEMBER 30, 2016
Operation Description | Supporting Documents Required for Transfer Execution A- COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS AND CONNECTED OPERATIONS:
1- Brokerage commissions. *Final invoice. *Bank certificate of repatriation of export proceeds subject to the commission.
2- Commissions due to non-resident brokers for transactions executed on behalf of foreign non-resident investors on the Tunis Stock Exchange (BVMT). *Contract between resident stockbroker and non-resident broker duly endorsed by the Financial Market Council. *Commission invoice issued by the non-resident broker. *Any document from BVMT justifying effective transaction execution. *Investment sheet justifying transaction financing by foreign exchange import. 3- Reservation commissions in hotels established in Tunisia via reservation centers established abroad. *Contract duly concluded between resident hotel and non-resident reservation center. *Commission invoice issued by the non-resident reservation center in the hotel's name, indicating amount, rate, and calculation base. *Statement listing references of invoices issued by the hotel, names of clients who actually stayed following reservations made via the center, client stay duration, and accommodation fees charged. 4- Representation commissions. *Contract. *Bank certificate of repatriation of export proceeds subject to the commission where commission amount is fixed based on export turnover.