An increasing number of legal matters are being delayed, not because of issues with the underlying transaction, but because exchange control and compliance requirements are only identified late in the process. By the time a conveyancer, executor, or attorney realises that SARB approval or SARS clearance is needed, the transaction has already stalled.
Identifying and addressing these requirements at the outset, with the support of a specialist forex partner, prevents delays before they arise. With the right structure in place from the outset, expectations are aligned upfront, compliance requirements are identified before they become obstacles, and transactions close on time.
At Currency Partners, we are seeing growing demand from legal practitioners across three areas in particular:
1. Personal Transfers
Attorneys regularly advise clients on emigration, offshore structuring, and the movement of capital but the foreign exchange and compliance leg is often left to a commercial bank that lacks the specialist capacity to handle it properly. The result is delays, poor rates, and clients who come back frustrated.
When your client needs to move funds offshore, we manage the process end to end:
- Dedicated personal forex dealers who manage the client relationship directly
- SARB exchange control applications and SARS tax clearances handled by our team — not passed back to the client
- 24/7 rate alerts, market orders, and active hedging strategies for clients with ongoing currency exposure
- Money market cash management accounts with premium interest rates for clients holding funds while awaiting approvals or timing a transfer
2. Conveyancing
Property transactions involving non-resident buyers or sellers are a growing source of delays in South African conveyancing practices. The exchange control requirements that arise are specialist in nature, and commercial banks are rarely equipped to handle them efficiently.
Bringing us in at the instruction stage, rather than at transfer, means these requirements are mapped out before they can delay a deal. We assist with:
- SARB regulatory support for non-resident foreign loan structures
- Remittance of property sale proceeds for non-resident sellers
- SARS income tax registrations where required
3. Deceased Estates
Executors who leave the forex and exchange control requirements to the final stage of winding up regularly find that distribution is delayed by weeks – or longer. Beneficiaries are left waiting, and practitioners are left managing the fallout.
We manage the full process at no cost to the referring practitioner:
- Distribution of inheritance proceeds to beneficiaries abroad, across all exchange control categories
- Remittance of offshore pension funds
- Receipt of foreign funds from offshore assets into South African estates
- SARS and SARB approvals handled by our team, with funds earning money market interest rates while awaiting clearance
- Exchange rates typically 0.5% to 3% better than commercial banks — a meaningful saving on larger estates
Don’t Let Compliance Be an Afterthought
Exchange control and tax compliance requirements do not disappear by leaving them to the end. They surface at precisely the moment when a client is expecting completion, a beneficiary is waiting for funds, or a transfer date has been committed to.
The practitioners we work with have found that introducing Currency Partners early in a matter:
- Protects their client relationships
- Reduces their own administrative burden
- Ensures forex and compliance requirements are handled by specialists from day one
- Results in better outcomes and better rates for their clients
If you are seeing cross-border complexity in your practice, whether in conveyancing, deceased estates, or personal transfers, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can support you.
Email: enquiries@currencypartners.co.za | Call: +27 21 203 0081
