On 5 December 2023, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) announced, through its letter no. 1/2937 (“Letter 1/2937”), that it will no longer determine the foreign exchange rate on foreign currency transactions made through authorized dealer (“AD”) banks via the foreign exchange online trading system. Consequently, sellers and buyers are now free to determine the […]

Under Notification 15/2023 issued on 13 July 2023 (“Notification 15”), the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) has lowered the percentage of export earnings that must be converted into Myanmar Kyats (“MMK”) from 65% to 50%. The original percentage of 65% was set on 5August 2022 by the CBM under Notification 36/2022, which required that exporters […]

The Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”) decided to grant foreign companies an exemption from mandatory forex conversion in its meeting no.78/2022. In this regard, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued letter no. FE-1/2861 dated 30 December 2022 concerning the resolution of the FESC’s meeting, which instructs the AD licensed banks to comply with such […]

On 2 June 2022 the Ministry of Transport and Communications issued letter no. PaSa-4/ (F.E-1/1)/2022 (709) (“Letter“) in implementation of a circular from the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”). The Letter states that FESC now permits logistics service companies to retain specific amounts of foreign currency in their foreign currency bank accounts in Myanmar. Any […]

In accordance with the notification issued by the Central Bank of Myanmar on 3 April 2022 regarding the conversion of USD into MMK within one working day, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) has confirmed that it will assist importers/exporters regarding the facilitation of applications to buy USD used for their businesses with the Foreign Exchange […]

On 3 April 2022, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued two regulations to be aware of—Notification No. 12/2022 (the “Notification”) to all Myanmar residents (both Myanmar citizens and foreigners) and Directive No. 4/2022 (the “Directive”) to banks holding authorized dealer licenses, instructing them on complying with matters under the Notification. The Notification repeals CBM […]

The Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued two notifications on 3 March 2022 providing permission and guidelines for Baht/Kyat direct payments at the Thai-Myanmar Border. They are effective from the above date and apply to designated banks and all exporters and importers involved in the Thai-Myanmar cross-border trade. Purpose In order to promote the local […]

The Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Notification No. 46/2021 on 10 November 2021 which amends Clause 35 of the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations as follows: “The holder of a foreign currency trading licence shall inspect whether the exporters receive export earnings within three months from the date of the shipment of the goods according […]

The State Administration Council passed Law No. 57/2021 on 6 October 2021 (“Law”) amending certain sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Law 2012 (“FEML”). The Law amends Section 41 of the FEML which previously restricted ‘foreign exchange licensees’ from violating any rules, regulations, procedures etc. issued under the FEML. The Law has removed the term […]