News Room

Relaxation of Exchange Control Regulations in South Africa

Thanks to Finance Minister Gordhan’s announcement in late October 2009, there are some welcome changes to South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations. This is really good news for individuals investing offshore.

Five key reasons to take advantage of the allowance:

Reduced risk through diversification in global investments
Take advantage of the current Rand strength
Take profits on JSE bull market and move to lower inflationary environment
Special rate entry fees for offshore investments
Security for the next generation

The individual foreign investment allowance has now been doubled to 4 million Rand (capped at 8 million Rand per family). This is a once-off limit which allows individuals, who are over the age of 18 years, to move funds outside of South Africa for investment purposes. To take advantage of this allowance, you need to obtain tax clearance from the South African Revenue Service specifically for foreign investment purposes. This is actually a very simple procedure. In the first instance, you should consult your tax advisor, however, in the event that you do not have one, please contact us as we have FirstRand Group colleagues on the ground who can help simplify the process. We also have a dedicated International Advisory Service's team to handle more complex situations.

If you haven’t already taken advantage of the foreign investment allowance, perhaps the timing is now right for you and this environment presents an excellent opportunity to do so……..