New regulations issued by China's regulators now allow
foreign investors to use offshore renminbi (RMB) funds to make
direct investments into China, signalling another step towards the
liberalisation of the RMB and deregulation of the country's
capital barriers for fund transfers.
These changes, which have immediate effect, were announced by
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the People's Bank
of China (PBOC) under the Notice on Cross-border Direct
Investment with RMB Fund
(关于跨境人民币直接投资有关问题的通知)
(MOFCOM Notice) and the Administrative Measures on RMB
Settlement Business for Foreign Direct...
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
In recent months Argentina has been experiencing both formal and informal additional foreign exchange restrictions both to purchase in the country and to transfer foreign currency abroad.
Through two new regulations, the Ministry of Economy and the Central Bank reduced the terms for the liquidation of foreign exchange proceeds from exports.
Until March 30, 2012, Brazilian
financial institutions did not require the approval of the
Brazilian Central Bank or other authorities to directly or
indirectly invest in the capital stock of other legal entities
either in or outside Brazil.
On April 24, 2012, the Board of
Directors of the Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do
Brasil – Bacen) decided to adopt new rules for
merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions involving two or
more financial institutions or other similar entities duly
authorized to operate in Brazil by Bacen, and from now on Bacen may
require that the efficiency gains resulting from this type of
operation be shared with the consumers.
The "Novo Mercado" is a listing segment created by the Brazilian Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange ("BM&FBOVESPA S.A – Bolsa de Valores, Mercadorias e Futuros" – BVMF) and designed for shares issued by companies that voluntarily undertake to abide by good corporate governance practices and transparency which are more rigid than those already required by the Brazilian legislation and by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission ("Comissão de Valores Mobiliários" - CVM).
By means of Decree No. 7683, of
February 29, 2012 (Decree 7683/2012), published in the Official
Gazette of the Union of March 1st, 2012, the Brazilian
Federal Government decided to increase from two to three years the
term of the foreign currency loans which are subject to the tax on
exchange transactions (IOF) at the rate of 6%.
On April 25, 2012, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários - CVM) issued CVM Instruction No. 521 (CVM Instr. 521/2012), regulating the activity of credit risk rating (classificação de risco de crédito) in the Brazilian securities market, with emphasis on registration and recognition requirements, information disclosure, and rules of conduct and internal controls of the credit rating agencies (CRAs).