Notice No. 13 of 2013, dated July 31 – Procedures for Current Invisible Foreign Exchange Operations

Published in the Official Gazette, I series, no. 149, of August 6 NOTICE NO. 13/2013 dated July 31 SUBJECT: PROCEDURES FOR CARRYING OUT CURRENT INVISIBLE FOREIGN EXCHANGE OPERATIONS Given the need to simplify procedures for current invisible foreign exchange operations established by Decree No. 21/98 of July 24, aiming to confer greater efficiency and flexibility to payments and transfers abroad, aligning them with the new economic context, without prejudice to monitoring by the Exchange Authority. Under 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. DETERMINES:
CHAPTER I
General and Common Provisions
Section I
(Object, Scope, Definitions and Classification)
Article 1.
(Object)
This Notice establishes the rules and procedures to be observed in carrying out acts, transactions or transfers related to travel, and current transfers as well as payments for services and income when carried out between the national territory and abroad, or between residents and non-residents.
Article 2.
(Scope)

1. The provisions of this Notice apply to participants in current invisible foreign exchange operations in the Republic of Angola, namely:

CONTINUATION OF NOTICE NO. 13/2013 Page 2 of 16 a) individuals or legal entities holding rights and obligations regarding these operations; b) intermediary financial institutions in these operations.
2. The provisions cover:
a) acts, transactions, contracts and transfers; b) registration, approval and monitoring procedures regarding the preceding subparagraph; c) customer identification procedures and documentary requirements for executing operations.
3. This Notice does not apply to current invisible operations carried out by entities covered by Law No. 2/12 of January 13, Law on the Exchange Regime Applicable to the Oil Sector, nor to transactions related to profit and dividend transfers from non-residents resulting from financial applications and capital, gaming premiums, and transfers to social security and pension funds, which are governed by their own regulations.
Article 3.
(Definitions)
For the purposes of this Notice, the following are understood:

1. Foreign exchange coverage: availability in foreign currency intended for settling a foreign exchange operation.
2. Charter Contract: Agreement whereby the owner or shipowner of the ship, aircraft or other means of transport - the charterer - undertakes to cede to another party - the charterer or carrier - the use of all transport equipment.
3. Commercial invoice: document of a legal nature, subject to international laws, issued by the service exporter itself, on company letterhead with a commercial invoice description, and aims to record the characteristics of the transaction between both parties. It is used by the importer for settling the operation with the intermediary financial institution, among others.
4. Proforma invoice: document issued by the exporter, on a preliminary basis at the importer's request, which aims to provide information to the buyer and competent authorities of this country regarding transaction details. It contains the elements of the final invoice but does not generate a payment obligation.
5. Financial institution: banking or non-banking financial institution that, under Law 13/05 of September 30, may conduct foreign exchange trade within its corporate object and has been licensed for this purpose by the National Bank of Angola.

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6. Foreign exchange settlement: payment or other form of extinguishment of a foreign exchange obligation.
7. Licensing: administrative process by which authorization is granted to the financial institution to settle a current invisible operation, which under this Notice is not exempt from prior authorization by the National Bank of Angola.
8. Non-resident Exchange: as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 4 of Law 5/97 of June 27, Exchange Law.
9. Foreign exchange operation: any act, transaction or transfer carried out between a resident and non-resident exchange entity, which may eventually result in payment or receipt from abroad, or which is simply qualified by law as such.
10.Current invisible operations: any current transactions that are not goods, namely related to travel and transfers of a current nature, payment and receipt of services and income, when carried out between the national territory and abroad or between residents and non-residents, whose maturity period does not exceed 360 days. 11.Proof of financial capacity: procedure to be adopted by the intermediary financial institution in the operation, aiming to identify and know the origin, as well as the constitution of the patrimony and financial resources of the ordering party covered by this Notice. 12.Foreign exchange registration: collection, electronic processing and maintenance of essential information regarding a foreign exchange operation, in the Integrated Foreign Exchange Operations System (SINOC). 13.Income: receipts from the use of production factors, namely land, labor and capital. 14.Resident exchange: as defined in paragraph 1 of Article 4 of Law 5/97 of June 27, Exchange Law. 15.Services: provision of assistance or performance of tasks by a non-resident entity in favor of another resident or vice-versa, or the use of an asset under analogous circumstances without transfer of ownership of said asset. 16.Integrated foreign exchange operations system (SINOC): automated information system made available by the National Bank of Angola to financial institutions, for approval and licensing of foreign exchange contracts and registration of payments and receipts made. 17.Transfer for family support or maintenance of natural persons: sending of funds by a resident exchange entity, intended for the maintenance of direct family members who depend financially on residents in the country. 18.Current transfers: refer to financial flows sent abroad by public or private sector entities, without goods counterpart, services, financial applications or investment, namely:
a. current transactions between governments and/or international organizations, such as donations, periodic contributions to regional and international organizations, fees, fines, granting of various licenses (fishing, hunting and exploitation of other resources) as well as administrative transfers; b. transfers for family support, educational, scientific and cultural purposes, health treatment, periodic contributions to professional bodies, as well as other transfers of identical nature. 19.Transfers for educational, scientific and cultural purposes: sending of funds by a resident exchange entity, with the purpose of covering expenses for persons who reside habitually in the country and are abroad fulfilling academic, professional or scientific programs, including scholarships. These transfers, in addition to tuition or school fees, also include accommodation, food, transport and other costs of the same nature. 20.Transfers for health treatment: sending of funds by a resident exchange entity, intended to cover expenses for health treatment abroad, including reimbursement of already incurred expenses, as well as the performance of medical examinations and other medical and laboratory services. 21.Verification of the nature and legitimacy of the transaction: set of anti-fraud measures aimed at identifying suspected situations based on knowledge of the ordering party's income or business profile and regularity of financial movement. 22.Travel: expenses related to accommodation, food and transport, during the traveler's stay in the host country, provided that the period of stay is less than one year.
Article 4.
(Classification)

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1. For the purposes of this Notice, current invisible operations are subdivided into:
   a. travel and transfers; b. services and income.
2. Current invisible operations may be ordered by resident or non-resident exchange entities, as defined in this Notice.
   Section II
   (Principles)
   Article 5.
   (Financial Intermediation)
   The intermediation of current invisible operations may only be carried out by an institution authorized to conduct foreign exchange business by the National Bank of Angola, under prevailing legislation.
   Article 6.
   (Foreign Exchange Coverage of Operations)
   The foreign exchange coverage for settling current invisible operations shall be processed as follows:
   a. by using available foreign currency funds in the ordering party's bank account; b. by debiting the national currency account at the time of transaction settlement, transfer abroad or hand delivery of foreign currency, when it concerns travel transactions;
   c. by using an international electronic payment card as defined in this Notice and established in own regulations.
   Article 7.
   (Requests to Carry Out Operations)
   To carry out transactions subject to this Notice, individuals or legal entities must request by letter or equivalent document from the intervening financial institution the purchase of foreign currency and/or transfer for the intended purpose, submitting for each type of operation the documents mentioned in the Annex which forms an integral part of this Notice.
   Article 8.
   (Conditions Prior to Carrying Out Foreign Exchange Operations)

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1. Prior to execution or registration for approval by the National Bank of Angola, financial institutions must certify the type of operation, purpose and legitimacy, ordering party's financial capacity, as well as identify the beneficial owner.
2. For the purposes of point 1 of this article, and when provided documentation is not sufficiently clear regarding nature or legitimacy of the operation, financial institutions or the National Bank of Angola reserve the right to request additional information.
3. Whenever operations covered by this Notice raise doubts under point 1 above, financial institutions must refrain from execution until clarification by the ordering party, and may submit any amount to the National Bank of Angola for consideration.
   Article 9.
   (Exemption from Licensing)
4. Without prejudice to registration in SINOC, financial institutions may, without prior authorization from the National Bank of Angola, sell foreign currency and/or execute payments or transfers abroad arising from the following:
   a. services and income, including capital income, ordered by the following State bodies:
   i. Attorney General's Office;
   ii. National Assembly;
   iii. Central Government Administration Bodies, namely the Presidency of the Republic, Vice-Presidency of the Republic and Ministerial Departments;
   iv. Superior Justice Administration Bodies.
   b. services approved under regulations on Contracting Foreign Technical Assistance or Management Services;
   c. freight services for imported goods;
   d. indemnities regarding exported goods and respective reinsurance services, within limits established or to be established in specific regulations; e. operations ordered by foreign Aviation companies operating in Angola under bilateral agreements, or their representatives, when acting on their behalf;

CONTINUATION OF NOTICE NO. 13/2013 Page 7 of 16 f. invoices from contracts approved by the National Bank of Angola; g. services arising from contracts amounting to Kz 100,000,000.00 (one hundred million Kwanzas) or equivalent in another currency, not mentioned in the preceding subparagraphs; h. services arising from contracts amounting to Kz 300,000,000.00 (three hundred million Kwanzas) or equivalent in another currency, not mentioned in the preceding subparagraphs and whose ordering parties are service providers to the oil sector, duly registered and/or with a program contract concluded with the Ministry of Petroleum;
i. travel and transfers as per this Notice, without prejudice to terms, limits and conditions on foreign exchange trade established in Notice No. 07/13 of April 1 and Instruction No. 13/13 of July 31;
j. transfers related to remittances of funds abroad, without prejudice to limits established in Notice No. 06/13 of April 22; k. transfers to compensate for value remittance services instructed by financial institutions providing authorized value remittance services by the National Bank of Angola.
Article 10.
(Transactions Subject to Licensing)

1. The following transactions are subject to prior authorization from the National Bank of Angola:
   a. acts, transactions or contracts arising from services amounting to over Kz 300,000,000.00 (three hundred million Kwanzas) or equivalent in another currency, whose ordering parties are service providers to the oil sector, duly registered and/or with a program contract concluded with the Ministry of Petroleum; b. other acts, transactions or contracts regarding services amounting to over Kz 100,000,000.00 (one hundred million Kwanzas) or equivalent in another currency;
   c. transfers of income from financial applications and capital;
   d. refunds due to contract cancellation and undue payments.

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2. The operations defined in subparagraphs f) and g), of Article 9, which have the same ordering party, nature and purpose, and within a one-year period benefit the same entity, are considered installments of a single contract, and are therefore subject to prior licensing by the BNA when their sum exceeds the limits set in those subparagraphs.
3. Installments also include acts, transactions or contracts with the same ordering party, nature and beneficiary purpose, established over equal and successive periods or merely consecutive.
Article 11.
(Registration of Contracts, Transactions, Coding and Exchange Rate)

1. Financial institutions must register contracts in SINOC before executing any operation related to them, or for approval by the National Bank of Angola.
2. Regarding transaction registration, it must be carried out on the day they are executed.
3. The National Bank of Angola establishes, for operational purposes, a classificatory table of foreign exchange operations, indicating respective codes and definitions of classificatory categories, with detailed description of operations subject to this Notice.
4. For the purpose of registration in SINOC and calculation of amounts set out in subparagraphs f) and g) of Article 9, a) and b) of point 1 of Article 10, points 1, 2 and 3 of Article 16, as well as point 2 of Article 19, acts, transactions, contracts or transfers concluded in foreign currency are converted at the reference average exchange rate published by the National Bank of Angola on its website, on the date of submission or registration.
5. Financial institutions are responsible for registrations made in SINOC, ensuring that inserted documentation is necessary for each type of operation.
   Article 12.
   (Approval of Contracts)
6. For approval of contracts and transactions subject to prior licensing by the National Bank of Angola, banking financial institutions must submit requests via SINOC, as referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 11.
7. Approval, rejection or request for additional information for licensing will be communicated to the intervening financial institution within 8 (eight) business days from the date of submission in SINOC, or if applicable, receipt of supplementary information requested from applicants.

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3. When the provision in point 2 is not met, the financial institution may execute the operation, provided it ensures compliance with all necessary requirements and assumes responsibility for its proper execution.
4. Failure by the National Bank of Angola to receive supplementary information within 15 days, after requesting it, results in cancellation of the licensing request.
CHAPTER II
Operations by Resident Exchange Entities
Section I
Travel and Transfers
Article 13.
(Covered Subjects)
The present section applies to transactions by resident exchange entities whether public or private, related to travel abroad and current transfers.
Article 14.
(Travel and Transfers of the Public Sector)

1. For this Notice, operations ordered by the public sector include:
   a. Those related to official travel or training by employees of central state bodies as well as all other public sector entities; b. Donations granted to other governments, contributions to international organizations, and all administrative transfers without consideration, ordered by state bodies and public sector entities;
   c. Those for educational, scientific and cultural purposes, health treatment, contributions to professional bodies and other transfers by public sector entities.
   Article 15.
   (Travel and Transfers of the Private Sector)
2. For this Notice, operations ordered by the private sector include:
   a. Those related to personal travel, as per Article 16 of this Notice;

CONTINUATION OF NOTICE NO. 13/2013 Page 10 of 16 b. Those related to official travel or training by employees of entities operating in the private sector;
c. Those related to family support, contributions to professional bodies and other private transfers;
d. Those related to educational, scientific, cultural purposes and health treatment.
2. Operations ordered by resident individual exchange entities are intended to cover their own expenses and those of direct family members, and are subject to limits as per Article 16, when applicable.
Article 16.
(Annual Amounts)

1. The volume of travel operations carried out in the same civil year by resident individual exchange entities over 18 years old must not exceed a cumulative amount of Kz 25,000,000.00 (twenty-five million Kwanzas) when ordered or made in the name of the same person, regardless of the payment instrument used (electronic international payment card, bank transfer, cash foreign currency or cheque abroad).
2. Operations related to personal travel expenses for resident individual exchange entities under 18 years old must not exceed a cumulative amount of Kz 6,000,000.00 (six million Kwanzas) for each civil year.
3. For each civil year, the volume of operations destined for transfers specified in subparagraph c) of point 1 of Article 15, ordered by the same person, must not exceed a cumulative amount of Kz 12,000,000.00 (twelve million Kwanzas) per civil year. These operations may only be ordered by resident individual exchange entities over 18 years old.
4. Operations related to health and education expenses are not subject to limits when payments are directly made to health or educational establishments, based on documentary support, as per the Annex to this Notice.
5. The National Bank of Angola will consider justified requests for additional fund remittances, and may exceptionally authorize transfers exceeding established amounts.
   Article 17.
   (Admissible Payment Instruments)
6. In processing operations subject to this Notice, the use of payment order, international electronic payment card, non-transferable named cheque or other analogous international payment instruments is permitted.

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2. Transfer of funds to the ordering party's account abroad is also permitted, when intended to cover travel expenses within limits established in this Notice. For resident individual exchange entities under 18 years old, foreign currency acquired to cover travel expenses may be transferred to the accounts of their duly authorized parents or legal representatives.
3. Hand delivery of foreign currency is only admitted when values are intended to fund travel expenses abroad, if the ordering party so wishes and the amount does not exceed limits established in regulations on currency entry and exit from the country.
Section II
Services and Income
Article 18.
(Services and Income)

1. This section applies to obligations of resident exchange entities arising from acts, contracts or agreements of a commercial nature, whether public or private.
2. Only resident exchange entities may acquire and/or transfer foreign currency to pay expenses referred to in this section.
3. Transactions referenced in paragraph 1, described in the Annex to this Notice, relate to the following services:
   a. government services; b. transport services;
   c. communications services;
   d. construction services; e. insurance services; f. financial services; g. information technology and information services; h. Other business services;
   i. personal, cultural, sports and recreational services;
   j. trademarks and patents, intellectual and industrial property; k. worker remuneration;

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l. income from capital or financial applications.
4. Advance payments are permitted if contractually stipulated, and must not exceed 15% of the contract value.
CHAPTER III
Operations by Non-Resident Exchange Entities
Article 19.
(Salaries and Income)

1. Without prejudice to the registration obligation, non-resident exchange citizens are permitted, after fulfilling tax obligations, to purchase foreign currency and transfer abroad.