Statutory Instrument 122A of 2017 Exchange Control (Amendment) Regulations, 2017 (No. 5)

Year:

2017

IT is hereby notified that His Excellency the President, in terms
of section2 of the Exchange Control Act [Chapter 22:05], has made
the following regulations: -
1. These regulations may be cited as the Exchange Control
(Amendment) Regulations ,2017 (No. 5).
2. The Exchange Control Regulations, 1996, published in
Statutory Instrument 109 of 1996 (hereinafter called 'the principal
regulations"), is amended in section 2 ("Interpretation") by the insertion
of the following definitions-
""'currency" -
(a) means the coin and paper money of Zimbabwe
or of a foreign country that is designated as
legal tender and which is customarily used
and accepted as a medium of exchange in the
country of issue;
(b) includes -
(i) foreign currency that is designated as legal
tender in the Republic of Zimbabwe by
virtue of section 44 of the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe Act ,[Chapter 22: 15] (No. 5
of 1999);
(ii) for the purposes of these regulations, bond
notes and coins as defined in section 44B
of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act
[Chapterr 22;15] (No. 5 of 1999);
(iii) any bill of exchange, promissory note,
traveller's cheque or letter of credit or any
draft or other document issued to obtain
currency or credit for an amount of money;
"deal", in relation to dealing in currency-
(a) means to do any of the following (whether
tangibly or electronically), namely to buy, sell,
barter, pledge, exchange, give or receive, or offer
or expose for sale, barter, pledge or exchange,
or engage in any transaction whatever whose
commodity is currency, (where the currency
is transferred for a premium or at a discount,
whether in a single transaction or a series of
transactions, or as part of an activity or series of
activities whose principal object is the transfer
of currency for a premium or at a discount;
(b) includes to do anything that is mentioned in
section 4(1)(a) and (b) in relation to foreign
currency;
'possess", in relation to the possession of currency in
the course of dealing in it, includes to be in control
of any banking account in or through which such
currency is held, and the "possessor" in relation to
such an account includes the person in whose name
or on whose behalf such an account is held;".
3. Section 40 ("Orders") of the principal regulations is amended
by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2b)-
"(2c) In relation to any dealing in currency, an authorised
officer or a police officer acting to enforce any order-
(a) may, for the purpose of holding the currency as
an exhibit in a subsequent prosecution, seize any
currency upon a reasonable suspicion that the
possessor thereof is dealing in it unlawfully, that is,
in contravention of any order or any provision of
the Act or these regulations by virtue of which the
order is made:
Provided that the officer in question must,
in doing so-
(i) promptly produce, at the request of the possessor,
his or her identification as such an officer; and
(ii) promptly issue a full receipt to the possessor
for the currency seized, which receipt shall
cite the relevant contravention of the Act or of
these regulations by virtue of which the seizure
is justified:
Provided that it shall suffice for the
citation to specify that an offence against section
5(1)(a)(ii) of the Act, as read ,vith the relevant
order, is being alleged;
and
(iii) as soon as practicable (and in any event no
later than the next business day) transmit the
seized currency to a place of security under
the control of the Reserve Bank for a period of
twelve months or until criminal proceedings in
connection rvith the currency are commenced,
whichever is the earlier;
(b) may, for the purpose of investigating, preventing
or prosecuting the commission of any offence
occasioned by the breach of an order concerning or
involving the unlawful dealing in currency, obtain
a Warrant in the same way as any warrant for the
seizure of property may be obtained under the
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, the purport
and effect of rvhich lvarrant shall be to freeze any
banking account of a possessor of currency therein
credited, if in relation to such currency there is a
reasonable suspicion that it is being or has been
dealt in unlawfully:
Provided the warrant must specify an
amount of currency which it is alleged the possessor
is unlawfully dealing in or has unlawfully dealt in,
so that the possessor may operate the account with
respect to any amount in excess of the frozen amount.
(2d) A warrant referred to in subsection (2c)(b) shall have
effect for a period not exceeding six months or until a prosecution
of the offence relating to the unlawful dealing in foreign currency
is completed or abandoned, whichever is the later.
(2e) For the purpose of enforcing any order-
(a) it is declared, for the avoidance of doubt, that any
dealing in currency or foreign currency for rvhich
any licence, permit or other authority or permission
is required by or under these regulations shall, if
such dealing is done r,vithout such licence, permit or
other authority or permission, constitute an offence
against section 5(1)(a)(ii) of the Act;
(b) if any person dealing in currency is unable to
produce to an authorised officer or a police officer
a valid licence, permit or other written authority or
permission permitting such dealing granted by or
under these regulations, then it shall be deemed that
the person is doing so in a manner that contravenes
any order or any provision of the Act or these
regulations by virtue of which that order is made.".