Regulatory Alerts2018-09-13
Instruction No. 12/2018 of September 14
The National Bank of Angola issued Instruction No. 12/2018 to establish rules for temporary ceilings on international payment cards, enabling commercial banks to cover hospital and school expenses (tuition and accommodation) for cardholders and their direct family members. Banks must verify the legitimacy of requests, confirm customers' domiciled income and financial solvency through KYC/CDD procedures, and cancel cards or report to the Central Bank if funds are misused. Non-compliance with these provisions is subject to penalties under existing financial and exchange laws, with the National Bank of Angola retaining authority to resolve interpretive doubts.
INSTRUCTION NO. 12/2018 of September 14 SUBJECT: EXCHANGE POLICY - Payments for Hospital and School Expenses Whereas Circular No. 13/13 of August 6, regarding procedures for carrying out current invisible exchange operations, does not set limits on operations related to health and education expenses when payments are made directly to health or educational institutions; Considering that in processing the operations provided for in said Circular, the use of payment orders via international payment cards or other similar payment instruments is permitted; Given the need to facilitate the payment of hospital and school expenses abroad; In the exercise of the authority conferred upon me by the combined provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 28 of Law No. 5/97 of July 27 - Exchange Law, and Article 40 of Law No. 16/10 of July 15 - Law of the National Bank of Angola. I HEREBY DETERMINE:
- Subject Matter This Instruction establishes the rules for making available temporary ceilings on international payment cards to cover hospital and school expenses (tuition fees and accommodation) for the cardholder or their direct family members.
CONTINUATION OF INSTRUCTION NO. 14/2018 Page 2 of 3 2. Scope This Instruction applies to Commercial Banks, hereinafter abbreviated as Banks. 3. Coverage of Hospital and School Expenses 3.1. Banks may, upon customer request, make available a temporary ceiling on international payment cards to cover hospital and school expenses (tuition fees and accommodation) for the cardholder or their direct family members. 3.2. When granting the temporary ceiling, Banks must ensure that: a) The customer's request is legitimate and complies with the current exchange regulations; and, b) The customer has domiciled income and proven financial solvency through account transaction history, combined with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedures, to support the requested amount for the aforementioned purposes. 3.3. Banks must cancel international payment cards whenever they verify that the temporary ceiling was used for a purpose different from that which originated its grant, and report to the Central Bank to assess reasonableness and placement on the negative list of the Information and Credit Risk Center (CIRC). 4. Penalties Violation of the rules set forth in this Instruction is punishable under Law No. 12/15 of June 17 - Basic Law of Financial Institutions, and under Law No. 5/97 of June 27 - Exchange Law, without prejudice to any other potentially applicable legislation.
CONTINUATION OF INSTRUCTION NO. 14/2018 Page 3 of 3 5. Doubts and Omissions Doubts and omissions arising from the interpretation and application of this Instruction are clarified by the National Bank of Angola. 6. Entry into Force This Instruction enters into force on the date of its publication. PUBLISH. Luanda, September 14, 2018. THE GOVERNOR JOSÉ DE LIMA MASSANO