National Treasury has published the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations for public comment, after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced imminent changes in the last National Budget.
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National Treasury has published the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations of 2026 for public comment in Friday’s Government Gazette, a move that has been particularly welcomed by the burgeoning cryptocurrency sector.
In the 2026 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that amendments to the Exchange Control Regulations would be published for public comment. The amendments would signal South Africa’s aim to modernise and adopt a “positive bias” approach to managing cross-border capital flows, through fewer transaction pre-approvals, a focus on reporting, the surveillance of high-impact and high-risk cross-border transactions, and the combating of illicit financial flows.
“This shift will align South Africa with international best practice, while also managing various risks using a risk-based approach and existing macroprudential tools,” National Treasury said in a statement.
It said the amendments would also address gaps in current regulations, including in relation to cross-border crypto asset transactions, which will complement existing regulation by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and Financial Intelligence Centre.
The amendments provide for new and amended definitions; transitional arrangements; administrative sanctions on regulated entities; increased penalties; the removal of any ambiguity with regard to the declaration of foreign assets; and the removal of restrictions on dealing in securities belonging to non-residents.
The amendments would also aim to address uncertainty regarding local businesses controlled from outside of South Africa, National Treasury said.
In recent years, National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have been reviewing the exchange control framework to refine policies and support South Africa’s growth and global integration, while also acknowledging the economy’s susceptibility to volatile capital flows and exchange rate swings.
Global integration drives foreign investment growth and technology exchange, while also developing human capital and knowledge and mitigating investment risks through diversification. The due date for submitting public comments is 10 June 2026.
At the time of the Budget, fintech’s Ozow and MoneyBadger welcomed the announcement that crypto assets will be formally incorporated into South Africa’s capital flow management framework
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“The move signals a decisive step toward greater regulatory clarity for crypto assets, particularly in relation to cross-border payments and reporting standards — an area which the fintech sector has consistently identified as requiring immediate clarity. (It reinforces) South Africa’s position as a jurisdiction taking a measured, forward-looking approach to digital asset regulation,” said Rachel Cowan, Interim CEO of Ozow in a statement.
Ozow is a South African payment solutions provider, and MoneyBadger is a Bitcoin and crypto payments gateway operator.
A significant foreign exchange relaxation feature of the last Budget was the announcement that South African couples can now transfer up to R4 million offshore per year without Reserve Bank approval or a SARS tax clearance certificate, as the single discretionary allowance has been doubled from R1m to R2m, but financial sector commentators have said that more meaningful reform would require deeper simplification, certainty, and equal treatment across taxpayer categories.
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