By Toney Bentley
Doing business internationally typically requires an investment of capital in one or more foreign countries. Whether or not the amount invested is significant, the investor naturally hopes to make a reasonable profit and eventually recover the capital invested. But in some foreign countries, especially in the financially strapped Third World, governmental investment controls, currency exchange laws and other restrictions sometimes make it much more difficult to take funds out than to bring them into the country. Even if the return of capital to foreign investors is not legally restricted, the official rate of exchange may not always make it financially attractive.
Fortunately, legally acceptable, politically safe solutions to these difficulties are often available. Currency exchange regulations sometimes do not cover all types of transactions, and in other cases the government has an official debt reduction program or is willing to waive normal requirements when it works to the country's advantage. Frequently, such solutions involve the participation of a large bank or other governmentally approved financial institution to make certain that the government will not object and to help find an ideal counterparty for the transaction.
Kirton & McConkie has handled foreign currency exchange transactions involving many of the largest international banks in the world on behalf of our clients. For more information about foreign currency exchange or repatriation issues, contact Toney Bentley at abentley@kmclaw.com.