The Presidents/Chief Executives of all
Authorized Dealers in Foreign Exchange
Dear
Sir/Madam,
REVISION OF SELECTED CHAPTERS OF THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE MANUAL
As Authorized Dealers are aware, the State Bank of Pakistan is in the process of revising the Foreign Exchange (FE) Manual in consultation with different stakeholders, including Authorized Dealers, in the phased manner. In this respect, ten chapters of the FE Manual have already been revised through FE Circulars No. 14 of 2018 and & 3 of 2019 and placed at the SBP’s website.
2. Now, the following chapter of the Manual also stand revised:
S. No. |
Chapter No. |
Title of Chapter |
1 |
20 |
Securities |
3. In the revised Chapter 20, following major changes have been made
- Policy for equity investment abroad (Para 13) has been revised, attached as Annexure-A.
- Trading in units of funds quoted on Stock Exchange and investment in units of Mutual Funds registered as Open-end Schemes have been allowed through Special Convertible Rupee Account (SCRA) and NRP Rupee Value Account (NRVA). (Para 9)
- Non-residents have been allowed to invest in units of private funds established by Private Fund Management Company. (Para 6(B))
4. In order to implement the revised policy of equity investment abroad (Para 13, Chapter 20 of FE Manual), Authorized Dealers shall set up a separate unit in their Head Offices, which shall be responsible for dealing with cases of equity investment abroad, under the revised regulations, in coordination with the designated branch. The unit shall be staffed with officers well versed with foreign exchange regime and shall be headed by a senior officer. Authorized Dealers shall submit the compliance, in this regard, to this office not later than February 19, 2021. The said unit shall ensure strict compliance with the provisions of policy during processing the cases in collaboration with the designated branches, and referring the cases to SBP where regulatory approval is required. The Authorized Dealer shall maintain complete party wise record of all such investment abroad transactions. SBP shall review these cases during the course of its supervisory assessment processes. In case non-compliance of the provisions of this policy is observed, appropriate enforcement action may be initiated against the delinquent Authorized Dealers under relevant provision of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.
5. The existing chapter of the Foreign Exchange Manual is being replaced with the revised chapter at the SBP’s website which is available at the following link: https://www.sbp.org.pk/fe_manual/index.htm.
6. Authorized Dealers are advised to bring the above development to the notice of all their constituents for meticulous compliance.
Encls: Annexure-A