Central Bank eases capital controls to allow citizens and firms to invest abroad

Under the updated guidelines, private citizens are now permitted to transfer up to $10,000 within a single calendar year to fund the charter capital of foreign enterprises or acquire equity stakes abroad. To ensure regulatory compliance, individuals may transfer funds to overseas brokerage or investment accounts, including topping up accounts held by investment intermediaries in foreign currency, only through licensed domestic investment intermediaries.

The revised regulatory framework also creates distinct operational tiers for corporate entities. Private enterprises are authorized to deploy up to $200,000 annually for outbound investments, establishing foreign subsidiaries, or setting up overseas representative offices and trading houses. For state-owned enterprises and their subsidiary structures, this annual outbound investment limit is capped at $100,000.

Furthermore, the central bank has streamlined the process for supplying operational working capital to foreign branches and representative offices. Private firms can now transfer up to $100,000 per year for this purpose, while state-owned entities are permitted to allocate up to $50,000 annually. For capital movement destined for the United States, specifically for corporate equity participation or provisioning working capital for local branches, residents are permitted to withdraw and transfer capital up to the total balance available in their designated bank accounts.

Capital transactions involving licensed banking institutions will continue to be governed strictly by the provisions of the laws "On Banks and Banking Activity" and "On Currency Regulation." Outbound capital movements exceeding the newly established thresholds or falling outside standard categories will require explicit authorization via dedicated decisions from the president or the Cabinet of Ministers. Additionally, the final regulatory text retains a specific exemption mechanism to facilitate the seamless repatriation of foreign assets back to non-residents.

To maintain macroeconomic oversight, all outbound capital operations must be systematically registered in the FERUz currency operations accounting database. Residents holding foreign investments are required to submit detailed quarterly reports regarding their overseas investment activities to their primary servicing commercial banks, which will subsequently transmit the data to the Central Bank.

The regulator noted that failure to submit these required disclosures within the established deadlines and prescribed formats will result in an immediate suspension of subsequent capital movement operations for the non-compliant resident. Any modifications to the baseline terms of an active capital movement operation must be legally formalized through a supplementary agreement and submitted to the serving bank within 10 days of execution.