Changes to the rules for currency transactions from August 6, 2020

In accordance with the Board Resolution of the National Bank of Kazakhstan No. 93 dated 20.07.2020, amendments and additions have been introduced to the rules for currency transactions in Kazakhstan No. 40 dated 30.03.2019 (hereinafter – the “Rules”). In particular:

• Crediting and/or transferring of foreign currency to own accounts in authorized banks shall be regarded as purposes not related to the fulfilment of obligations in foreign currency (Clause 19 of the Rules).
• The use of non-cash foreign currency purchased in accordance with Clause 20 of the Rules for purposes not related to the fulfilment of obligations in foreign currency is prohibited, except for the cases when it is used for purposes related to the performance of obligations in foreign currency under another currency agreement. In this case, a resident legal entity shall submit an additional application to an authorized bank.
• An obligation for a resident legal entity to provide additional documents when purchasing non-cash foreign currency to repay obligations in foreign currency to a non-resident of Kazakhstan on the received external loans (the amount of a foreign exchange agreement under which exceeds 100 million US dollars in equivalent), and bonds issued in foreign currency, the nominal amount according to the prospectus for which exceeds 100 million US dollars in equivalent, and for which the fulfilment of obligations within 90 calendar days from the date of the purchase of non-cash foreign currency, is introduced.
• The authorized bank credits the non-cash foreign currency purchased by the resident legal entity to a separate bank account and ensures its use exclusively for the stated purposes.