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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY

1. Foreign Exchange Ragulation Act, 1947 and Notifications issued thereunder.
Foreign Exchange Policy and its operations in Pakistan are formulated and regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. The object of this Act is to regulate, in the economic and financial interest of Pakistan, certain payments, dealings in foreign exchange, securities, import/export of currency and bullion. Under the Act, the basic regulations are issued by the Government of Pakistan and the State Bank in the form of Notifications which are published in the official Gazette. The Act, as amended up-to date, is reproduced at the end of the Manual as Appendix I. Notifications issued by the Government of Pakistan under the Act, except those issued in terms of sub-section (2) of Section 19, sub-section (2) of Section 23 and Section 23-B are reproduced as Appendix II and those issued by the State Bank are reproduced as Appendix  III.

2. Directions issued under the Act.
For the purpose of securing compliance with the provisions of the Act and the Notifications and any rules, orders or directions issued thereunder, the State Bank may, under sub-section (3) of Section 20 of the Act, give directions to Authorised Dealers, travel agents, carriers, stock-brokers and other persons who are authorised by the State Bank to do anything in pursuance of the Act, in regard to making of payments and carrying out other acts in the course of their business. Directions having general application are issued in the form of public notices, F.E. circulars and circular letters etc. Instructions issued by the State Bank to the Authorised Dealers, [Authorised Money Changers], travel agents, carriers, etc., upto 31-12-2001, setting out the terms and conditions subject to which they may engage in transactions covered by the Act, have been incorporated in this Manual. Contents of this Manual and all instructions, directions, orders etc., issued under the Act are without prejudice to the provisions of any other law of Pakistan or any rules, notifications, orders, directions or regulations made thereunder.

3. Amendments.
Changes in the regulations are generally advised by issue of F.E. circulars. This edition of the Manual has been issued in the loose-leaf form. Amendments in the provisions of the Manual will be printed periodically by the State Bank in the form of replacement pages which will be substituted in place of the old pages. It will be in the interest of Authorised Dealers and other holders of the Manual to ensure that it is kept updated and the old pages are regularly replaced by new pages whenever issued. The Manual and its amendments will also be posted on the State Bank’s Website (www.sbp.org.pk).

4. Jurisdiction of the Offices of Exchange Policy Department.
Under the Act, the State Bank is responsible for day to day administration of Foreign Exchange Policy which is exercised through its Exchange Policy Department. The Principal Office of the Department is situated at Karachi under the charge of a Director. The Department has following offices with the jurisdiction of each Office mentioned there against: 

5.  Authorised Dealers to notify the Regulations to their Customers and to report Cases of Evasion. 
Authorised Dealers are required to bring the Foreign Exchange regulations to the notice of their customers and to ensure compliance in their day to day operations. They should also report to the State Bank every case of evasion or attempt, direct or indirect, at evasion of the provisions of the Act and Notifications or any rules, orders or directions issued thereunder, immediately as it comes to their notice. 

6.  References to the State Bank. 
Authority has been delegated to the Authorised Dealers to approve certain transactions on behalf of the State Bank. In these cases, Authorised Dealers should, before approving any transactions, satisfy themselves about the bonafides of the applicant and the genuineness of the transaction by verifying the necessary documents. They should refer to the State Bank alongwith their recommendations/comments only those cases which they are not authorised to approve. While referring cases to the State Bank, they should ensure that the applications are on the prescribed forms, wherever such forms are prescribed and are supported by appropriate documentary evidence. In all these cases it will be deemed that they have satisfied themselves about the bonafides of the applicants and the correctness of the statements made by them on the application and the accompanying documents, if any.

7. Submission of Returns to the State Bank.
Authorised Dealers must submit to the State Bank returns of their dealings in foreign exchange on due dates in the forms prescribed in the Manual. Specimens of all application forms and returns prescribed by the State Bank are given in Appendix V.

8.  Stationery.
 (i) Forms ‘M’, ‘T-1’, ‘E’ and ‘I’ will be got printed by the Head/Principal Offices of the Authorised Dealers themselves strictly according to the size, contents and format of the specimens supplied to them by the State Bank. These forms should bear an identifying prefix as per Appendix IV followed by serial numbers in six digits except in the case of form 'E' which will have seven digits. For example, the first number of all the forms printed by XYZ bank except form 'E' will be "XYZ 000001" (i.e. six digits) and so on, and in the case of form 'E', the serial number will be"XYZ 0000001" (i.e. seven digits) and so on.  The other prescribed forms may also be got printed by the Authorised Dealers themselves.  These must conform exactly in size, content and format to the respective forms prescribed by the State Bank.

(ii) As omission of any part in the printing of the forms is likely to make a material change and may weaken the position of the State Bank legally, Authorised Dealers should take utmost care in the printing of the forms. They should also keep an updated record of the forms printed and distributed to their branches, which should be kept adequately stocked to avoid any complaint on account of non-availability of the forms. 

9. Definitions.
Terms having special meanings for the purposes of the Act have been defined in Sections 2 and 13 of the Act.
i) For the purposes of Section 13 of the Act the term "persons resident outside Pakistan" covers a foreign national including foreign nationals of Indo-Pak origin as also Pakistanis holding dual nationality for the time being resident in Pakistan. A company registered in Pakistan which is controlled directly or indirectly by "persons resident outside Pakistan" is, for the purposes of Sections 13 and 18 of the Act, treated as a "person resident outside Pakistan". 

ii) For the purposes of Section 5 of the Act the term "persons resident outside Pakistan" also includes nationals of Pakistan and persons domiciled in Pakistan, except persons holding office in the service of Pakistan, who go out of Pakistan for any purpose.

iii) In respect of purposes other than the above, a resident person, bank or firm is a person who resides in Pakistan. A non-resident is a person, bank or firm, who resides outside Pakistan. No definite rules can be laid down for determining whether a person is ordinarily resident in Pakistan but there is a presumption that a person is resident if he maintains a home in Pakistan, or resides in the country for a substantial part of each year, or pays income tax as a resident of Pakistan. On the other hand, the fact that a person gives an address in Pakistan does not necessarily mean that he should be regarded as a resident if he is in fact only a temporary visitor and is ordinarily resident outside Pakistan.

iv) The following terms used in the Manual are described below:
a) Rupee- 'Rupee' means the Pakistan Rupee unless otherwise specified.
b) Act- 'Act' means the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.