2023-12-07
Added · Updated
The National Bank adopts a decision that establishes the criteria, documentation and procedure for granting a currency‑exchange licence to resident legal entities, requiring registration under activity 66.12 or a general business clause, an adequate office, a vault, a bank agreement, security measures, and the absence of bankruptcy, liquidation or disqualifying criminal convictions for the responsible person or any associate. Licensed operators must, within 30 days of licence issuance, display the entity name and “exchange office” signage in Macedonian and a foreign language, hold at least Denar 200,000 on a payment account, install internet and an electronic‑signature certificate, and implement an AML/CFT risk‑reduction programme, while also opening a single special denar and foreign‑currency account in a licensed bank and complying with detailed reporting, cash‑journal, and label‑obtainment requirements. The decision further obliges operators to notify the National Bank of any changes to office address, opening or closure of offices, responsible persons or officers, and to submit supporting documents within specified timeframes (typically five or fifteen working days), with the Bank empowered to inspect offices, issue compliance labels, or revoke the licence and require closure of special accounts if the stipulated conditions are not met.
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Pursuant to Article 7 paragraph 1 item 10 and Article 47 paragraph 1 item 6 of the Law on the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 158/10, 123/12, 43/14, 153/15, 6/16, 83/18 and Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 110/21), Article 36 paragraph 3 and
Article 45 paragraph 1 of the Law on Foreign Exchange Operations (Official Gazette of
the Republic of Macedonia No. 34/01, 49/01, 103/01, 51/03, 81/08, 24/11, 135/11, 188/13, 97/15, 153/15 and 23/16 and Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 110/21), the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia Council has adopted the following DECISION ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE OPERATIONS (Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 212/23)
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
currency exchange operations shall include purchase of cash foreign
currency and foreign currency-denominated checks from foreign and domestic natural persons and sale of cash foreign currency and checks to domestic and foreign natural persons;
licensed currency exchange operators shall be resident legal entities seated
in the Republic of North Macedonia licensed by the National Bank to perform currency exchange operations, in accordance with this decision. Licensed currency exchange operators may perform currency exchange operations on own behalf and for own account or on own behalf and for the account of a bank;
exchange office shall be the office where exchange operations are
performed;
cashier’s desk shall be a part of the exchange office where exchange
operations are performed;
a licensed officer shall be the person employed with the licensed currency
exchange operator, registered by the licensed currency exchange operator with the National Bank and registered in the National Bank Register of Decisions Issued as the person who performs exchange operations;
responsible person shall be the person who represents the legal entity by
law;
a licensed bank shall be any bank that has received founding and operating
license by the National Bank Governor;
cash shall be effective foreign currency and checks, and denars;
an ATM performing currency exchange operations shall be an automatic
machine through which a licensed bank may purchase or sell foreign currencies from/to natural persons; and
an associate shall be any natural person who, together with the applicant’s
responsible person, directly or indirectly and/or through an agreement, exercises control over a domestic or foreign trade company.
II. CRITERIA FOR OBTAINING A CURRENCY EXCHANGE LICENSE
AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION
The written application referred to in paragraph 1 of this item shall be accompanied by the following documentation:
The National Bank may, when deciding on the issuance of a currency exchange license, request clarification of the already submitted documentation or submission of additional documents, data and/or information from the applicant.
6. The National Bank shall, ex officio, obtain a certificate of non-conviction from
the competent court of the resident natural person who is a responsible person of the applicant, in connection with item 3 paragraph 1 indent 8 of this decision. If the resident natural person who is a responsible person of the applicant has an associate in connection with item 2 paragraph 1 indent 10 of this decision, the National Bank shall, ex officio, obtain a certificate of non-conviction of the associate from the competent court. For the foreign natural persons, such certificates issued by the competent institutions in the foreign country should be enclosed in the application for currency exchange license by the applicant and should not be older than 6 (six) months before the date of the application. If the legislation of the domicile country of the natural person who is a responsible person of the applicant or an associate of this person, regulates otherwise the matter referred to in item 6 paragraph 1 of this decision, the applicant shall submit an appropriate document issued by a competent authority or a legal opinion from a lawyer confirming the difference in regulation.
7. The National Bank shall decide on the application under item 4 of this
decision within 15 (fifteen) working days from the date of the completeness of application. Complete application shall denote an application containing data and documentation specified under item 4 and documentation required and provided by the National Bank in line with items 5 and 6 of this decision.
8. A licensed currency exchange operator that obtained a currency exchange
license from the National Bank shall, within 30 (thirty) days from the date of receipt of the decision:
After the label is obtained, the licensed currency exchange operator shall start conducting currency exchange operations within 3 (three) working days.
12. If the National Bank's examination shows that the requirements under item
3 paragraph 1 indents 4 and 5 and item 8 of this decision are not fulfilled, it shall not issue a written label to the licensed currency exchange operator and shall revoke the currency exchange license.
13. The licensed currency exchange operator shall immediately notify the
National Bank and provide it with appropriate documentation for any change in the requirements under item 3 of this decision, with the exception of the change in the requirements with different notification deadline in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 6 of this item. The licensed currency exchange operator shall notify the National Bank of the cessation of exchange operations, closing of an exchange office, opening of a new exchange office and change in the exchange office address, and shall provide it with the relevant data from item 4 paragraph 1 indents 2 and 3 and the relevant documentation from item 4 paragraph 2 indents 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9 of this decision, at least 5 (five) working days before the change occurs. If the exchange operator ceases carrying out exchange operations, closes the exchange office or changes the address of the exchange office, they shall also return the label/labels issued for the exchange office/s together with the notification. The licensed currency exchanger operator shall notify the National Bank of any change in the company and main office data and shall provide it with the documentation from item 4 paragraph 2 indent 1 of this decision within 5 (five) working days from the change. The decision on registration of the change, issued by the Central Registry of the Republic of North Macedonia, must also be submitted along with the notification. The licensed currency exchange operator shall notify the National Bank before making any change to the data for the responsible person and provide it with the relevant documentation from item 4 paragraph 2 indents 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 and the documentation from item 6 in the case of non-resident natural person who is to be appointed a responsible person of the licensed currency exchange operator. The National Bank shall, within 15 (fifteen) working days upon receipt of the notification and documentation, notify the licensed currency exchange operator that they may make the change. Within 5 (five) working days of the registration of the change in the Central Registry of the Republic of North Macedonia, the licensed currency exchange operator shall notify the National Bank and submit the new documentation from item 4 paragraph 2 paragraph 1 of this decision. If the notification and documentation from paragraph 4 of this item show that the person who is to be appointed a responsible person of the licensed currency exchange operator does not meet the requirements from item 3 of this decision, the National Bank shall, within 15 (fifteen) working days, notify the licensed currency exchange operator that it should submit notification and documentation for a new person who meets the requirements of item 3 of this decision within 30 (thirty) days. he licensed currency exchange operator shall inform the National Bank and submit the documentation from item 4 paragraph 2 indents 8 and 9 of this decision for each newly licensed currency exchange officer at the exchange office
as well as for each termination of operation of any licensed exchange officer at the exchange office at least 5 (five) working days before the change occurs. All licensed officers may perform currency exchange operations at any exchange office, and the responsible person shall submit a list of licensed officers to the National Bank.
Depending on the data subject to change in accordance to this item and the documentation thereon as well as the cessation of exchange operations, the National Bank shall issue a decision or notification to the licensed currency exchange operator within 15 (fifteen) working days upon receipt of the complete notification.
14. The licensed bank shall obtain the currency exchange license from the
National Bank, along with the bank’s founding and operating license.
15. A licensed bank shall notify the National Bank on the address of each
opened or closed exchange office, i.e. each change in address of the exchange office, at least 5 (five) working days before the change occurs. The National Bank shall issue a written label to the bank referred to in paragraph 1 of this item for each opened exchange office, i.e. it shall withdraw the issued label for each closed exchange office.
16. The National Bank shall maintain a register of issued decisions, which
contains:
display the label in the exchange office;
display a notification in the exchange office written in capital printed letters
which will read as follows: “Pursuant to item 17 paragraph 1 indent 5 of the Decision on currency exchange operations adopted by the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, the licensed currency exchange operator shall issue a certificate of purchase/sale of cash foreign currency and checks on MT1 Form, for each concluded transaction".
perform currency exchange operations only with natural persons;
display, at all times, the bid and ask rates of the currencies it
purchases/sells;
prepare a certificate of purchase/sale of cash foreign currency and checks
for each purchase/sale of cash foreign currency and checks on an MT1 Form in two copies, one for the natural person, and the other for own records;
record each transaction of purchase/sale of cash foreign currency and
checks in a cash journal;
keep a cash journal daily;
submit an aggregated 10-day report on IMR1 Form to the National Bank
within two working days after the expiration of the 10-day period;
perform currency exchange operations in exchange offices licensed by the
National Bank and registered in the National Bank Register of Issued Decisions;
ensure that exchange operations are performed only by licensed officers
registered with the National Bank and recorded in the National Bank Register of Issued Decisions;
make sure that there are no differences between the turnover documents
and the actual amount of cash in the cashier's desk;
not keep cash in the cashier's desk that does not originate from currency
exchange operations. The licensed currency exchange officers may keep in the exchange office own cash in denars or in foreign currency up to 6,000.00 denars equivalent per person (personal funds);
keep currency exchange operations documentation from the last 3 (three)
months, in the exchange office;
request and keep a written confirmation for entered cash foreign currency
and checks in the Republic of North Macedonia issued by the Customs Administration of the Republic of Macedonia, or a document proving that they have been withdrawn from the account opened with a licensed bank, in original, when purchasing cash foreign currency and checks from nonresidents in an amount exceeding denar equivalent of Euro 10,000.00;
display an inscription "exchange office” in the exchange office, at all times,
in Macedonian and one of the following languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Italian;
display a label indicating the working hours and the rest break in the
exchange office, and adhere thereto.
The licensed currency exchange operator shall, in respect of the measures and actions to detect and prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism, act in accordance with the AML/CTF regulations. The licensed currency exchange operator shall immediately notify the National Bank of any interruption in the exchange operation. The licensed currency exchange operator shall submit documentation proving the justification of the interruption in the exchange operations. If the submitted documentation contains personal data for the responsible or authorized officers, a written statement of the personal data subject shall also be enclosed expressing their consent to the processing of their personal data for specific purpose, certified by a notary public. The National Bank shall keep the personal data, referred to paragraph 4 of this item, 1 (one) year from the date of their delivery. III-A. EXCHANGE OPERATIONS THROUGH CURRENCY EXCHANGE ATM
notification, the bank shall indicate the closest exchange office to which the ATM with currency exchange function belongs. The licensed bank shall, along with the notification referred to in paragraph 2 of this item, provide a document confirming that the ATM performing currency exchange operations:
authorized inspectors and, on their request, provide them with all the required documentation.
22. The National Bank authorized inspectors shall prepare a report on the
situation found during the off-site or on-site inspection. The on-site inspection report shall be prepared either during the inspection of the licensed currency exchange operator or at the National Bank. The report prepared during the inspection of the licensed currency exchange operator shall contain at least the following elements:
The National Bank authorized inspectors shall reply to the licensed currency exchange operator’s objection to the report within 15 (fifteen) days from the date of receipt of the objection to the report, after which the inspection shall be considered officially completed, and the report final.
23. The provisions of items 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17 paragraph 1
indents 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16 and items 21 and 22 of this decision does not apply to banks that have been granted a founding and operating license by the National Bank Governor.
V. TRANSITIONAL AND CLOSING PROVISIONS
24. The National Bank Governor shall adopt Instructions on the implementation
of this Decision.
25. Applications for a currency exchange license, for amendments to a currency
exchange license and for cancellation of a currency exchange license, submitted to the National Bank before the entry into force of this decision shall be decided upon in accordance with the Decision on currency exchange operations (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 127/12, 42/14, 42/16, 184/18 and Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 198/21 and 70/22). The licensed currency exchange operators who, on the date of entry into force of this decision, were issued a currency exchange license, except the licensed banks, shall submit to the National Bank by 30 June 2024 the data referred to item 4 paragraph 1 indent 2 of this decision, the documents referred to in item 4 paragraph 2 indent 1, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 (only for the responsible officer of the licensed currency exchange operator) of this decision and the documents referred to in item 6 (only for the non-resident natural person who is the responsible officer of the licensed currency exchange operator) of this decision.
26. On the date of entry into force, this decision shall supersede the Decision
on currency exchange operations (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 127/12, 42/14, 42/16, 184/18 and Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 198/21 and 70/22).
27. This decision shall enter into force on the eighth day of its publication in
the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia.
No. 02-32963/3
5 October 2023
Skopje
Anita Angelovska Bezhoska
Governor
Chairperson of the Council of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia
Form 1
QUESTIONNAIRE
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Source: National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia — original document · Summary generated with machine assistance and reviewed before publication; the authoritative text is the regulator's original document. How RegAlert works
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