Transferring money from South Africa

Jennyt56

Hi.
I am currently waiting for an inheritance to be transferred to me from SA to the UK, it's almost completed a long and arduous journey! Anyway, I'd like to use a private company (cheaper than the bank) to transfer the funds from the bank in SA to my UK account once the funds have been released. The bank in SA however say that it's illegal to do that, can anyone tell me if this is so please?
Thanks in advance.

xylophone

https://www.cashkows.com/services/inheritance-and-trust-income/

somebody here might know the answer.

Ballard

I must admit that I thought that South Africa got rid of exchange control when the abolished the financial rand back in the mid 90s but I see that it's still in place.

http://www.money-transfers.co.za/south-africa-exchange-control.php

I'm sorry that I can't shed any more light into this and hope that you manage to sort it out.

eDicky

Are these funds already held by yourself in a SA bank account in your name, or are they in the hands of a legal firm or other party? What is the part being played by the bank you mention, if any?

Any international transfer needs to be organised by the party at source, so whoever this is in SA will have to arrange for the approval from the Reserve Bank or one of its authorised agents. If it is yourself you will probably need the help of an authorised agent or dealer, such as the one in the link given by Ballard, who could then legally effect the transfer using a hopefully reasonable exchange rate. A law firm holding the money will need to arrange for the approval and then carry out the transfer, according to whatever process they normally use or have available. The bank will not be able to accept instructions for international transfer without that legal basis, but the domestic transfer to an authorised dealer should be no problem.