It has been completely easy to walk over to a forex bureau to have your money exchanged, from shillings to foreign currency and vice versa. However, the increase in the money laundering cases, and the need to account for the transactions prompted the government of Uganda to make an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Act.
The act, which was last enacted in 2004, has been amended to look into the ever changing trends in the business such as the use of mobile money to receive money from abroad and management of forex bureaux.
Cabinet has approved the amendments, making it mandatory for one to have a Tax Identification Number (TIN) before exchanging money at any forex bureau. The Bank of Uganda will require the details of any or all of one’s foreign exchange transactions for records purposes.
Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said that this will strengthen the central bank’s execution of its mandate as regards supervision of forex bureaux and money remittances. He added that it will also enable Uganda to harmonize the regulation regime with the East African Monetary Union Convergence Criteria.
The Resolutions
The Amendments made to the Foreign Exchange Act, 2004 and the Foreign Exchange (Forex Bureaus and Money Remittance) Regulations, 2006 are intended to:
- Strengthen provisions in the existing law that are considered inadequate for the effective execution of Bank of Uganda’s Mandate with regards to supervision of Forex Bureaus and Money Remitters;
- Make regulatory provisions for new business trends and technological developments that were not provided for;
- Ensure effective implementations of new national legislation such as the Anti Money Laundering Act, 2013;
- Adopt International best practice with regard to the supervision and regulation of Foreign Exchange Bureaus and Money remitters; and
- To harmonize the regulatory regime with the East African Monetary Union Convergence Criteria as agreed with the East African Community Partner States.
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