Pakistan's economy and its taxation system cannot be properly analysed unless there is proper understanding of Pakistan's foreign exchange regime. In Pakistan, unlike almost all the countries, fiscal policy concessions and protection have been directly related to foreign exchange regime. This article has been written with a view to creating proper understanding of Pakistan's foreign exchange regime relating to 'Private Foreign Currency Accounts'.
The original and substantive law relating to movement of foreign exchange in Pakistan is the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, 1947. [FERA]. It is another unique feature, though not desirable that a parallel legislation, operates by way of Protection of Economic Reform Act, 1992 (PERA) since 1992. Then there is another law termed as the Foreign Currency Accounts (Protection) Ordinance, 2001. This regime cannot be properly understood unless all three primary regulations are read together. An attempt has been made in this article.
In the Finance Act 2018 certain fundamental and substantial changes have been made in PERA that have changed the whole scenario of the FCY Accounts. This is the subject matter here.
Background to Foreign Currency Accounts
In 1990, the Government of Pakistan announced economic reforms which have been defined in the PERA. These measures were announced on November 7, 1990. There were various measures which were taken under these reforms; however, in relation to FCY Accounts State Bank of Pakistan issued Circular dated February 12, 1991 that allowed residing in Pakistan to open foreign currency accounts in Pakistan. This was in continuation to Foreign Currency Accounts regime as contained in Chapter V of the Foreign Exchange Manual issued under the FERA. It was further provided in that circular that there will be no 'enquiry' about the 'sources of funding' such accounts. This relaxation was the time and action where foreign exchange policy was mixed with fiscal measures and authority. In author's view this has been undone by the amendments in the PERA in 2018. The approach is adequate and reasonable.
There were views on the validity of such immunity under the general law as contained in FERA in relation to income tax. Accordingly, a need for special law was felt which resulted in promulgation of PERA.
The Text of Original PERA
THE PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC REFORMS ACT, 1992
Act No. XII of 1992
An Act to provide for furtherance and protection of economic reforms
WHEREAS it is necessary to create liberal environment for savings and investments; and other matters relating thereto;
AND WHEREAS a number of economic reforms have been introduced and are in the process of being introduced to achieve the aforesaid objectives;
AND WHEREAS is necessary to provide legal protection to these reforms in order to create confidence in the establishment and continuity of the liberal economic environment created thereby;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement.-(1) This Act, may be called the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992.
(2) It extends to the whole of Pakistan.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.-In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context.-
(a) "Government" includes both the Federal Government and any Provincial Government;
(b) "economic reforms" means economic policies and programmes, laws and regulations announced, promulgated or implemented by the Government on and after the seventh day of November, 1990, relating to privatization of public sector enterprises, and nationalized banks, promotion of savings and investments, introduction of fiscal incentives for industrialization and deregulation of investment, banking, finance, exchange and payments systems, holding and transfer of currencies; and
(c) all other expressions used in this Ordinance shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them under the relevant laws.
3. The act to override other laws. -The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (V II of 1947), the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979, or any other law for the time being in force.
4. Freedom to bring, hold, sell and take out foreign currency.- All citizens of Pakistan resident in Pakistan or outside Pakistan and all other persons shall be entitled and free to bring, hold, sell, transfer and take out foreign exchange within or out of Pakistan in any form and shall not be required to make a foreign currency declaration at any stage nor shall anyone be questioned in regard to the same.
5. Immunities to foreign currency accounts. - All citizens of Pakistan resident in Pakistan or outside Pakistan who hold foreign currency accounts in Pakistan, and all other persons who hold such accounts, shall continue to enjoy immunity against any enquiry from the Income Tax Department or any other taxation authority as to the source of financing of the foreign currency accounts.
(2) The balances in the foreign currency accounts and income therefrom shall continue to remain exempted from the levy of wealth-tax and income tax and compulsory deduction of zakat at source.
(3) The banks, shall maintain complete secrecy in respect of transactions in the foreign currency accounts.
(4) The State Bank of Pakistan or other banks shall not impose any restrictions on deposits in and withdrawals, from the foreign currency accounts and restrictions if any shall stand withdrawn forthwith.
6. Protection of fiscal incentives for setting up of industries.- The Fiscal incentives for investment provided by the Government through the statutory orders listed in the Schedule or otherwise notified shall continue in force for the term specified therein and shall not be altered to the disadvantage of the investors.
7. Protection of transfer of ownership to private sector.- The ownership, management and control of an banking, commercial manufacturing or other company, establishment or enterprise transferred by the Government to any person under any law shall not again be compulsorily acquired or taken over by the Government for any reason whatsoever.
8. Protection of foreign and Pakistani investment.- No foreign, industrial or commercial enterprise established or owned in any form by a foreign or Pakistani investor for private gain in accordance with law, and no investment in share or equity of any company firm, or enterprise, and no commercial bank or financial institution established, owned or acquired by any foreign or Pakistani investor, shall be compulsorily acquired or taken over by the Government.
9. Secrecy of Baking transaction.-Secrecy of bona fide banking transactions shall be strictly observed by all banks and financial institutions, by whosoever owned, controlled or managed.
10. Protection of financial obligation.- All financial obligations incurred, including those under any instrument, or any financial and contractual commitment made by or on behalf of the Government shall continue to remain in force, and shall not be altered to the disadvantage of the beneficiaries.
11. Rules.-The Federal Government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
Protections and Concessions provided by PERA
PERA is a unique law. It deals with foreign exchange as well as income tax and customs. In summary, in relation to foreign exchange and income tax PERA provided the following protections and concessions:
(i) Freedom to hold, sell or take out foreign currency in and out of Pakistan: Under Section 4 of FERA such movement had been subjected to State Bank of Pakistan's regulations. PERA allowed all citizens of Pakistan and any other person to hold, sell or transfer foreign currency in and out of Pakistan.This provision, in practice, allowed feeding of foreign currency accounts from foreign currency available in Pakistan, including that obtained against Rupee from money changers and exchange companies;
(ii) No Declaration or Enquiry: Under the similar section PERA provided the right for not declaring and questioning the source of such foreign currency;
(iii) Under Section 5 of PERA all citizens of Pakistan who held foreign currency accounts were immune from any enquiry under the Income Tax Department for the sources of finance of the aforesaid foreign currency account;
(iv) Under same section 5 were asked to maintain complete secrecy with respect to the said foreign currency accounts; and
(v) Under same section 5 State Bank of Pakistan was barred to provide any restriction on deposit or withdrawal of funds in the foreign currency accounts.
If the concessions and protections, as referred above, are practically described then it meant that all 'individuals' being citizens in Pakistan were allowed a completely free foreign exchange regime. FERA and Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 were overridden.
Post-1998 restriction
In 1999, subsequent to the Atomic blasts; two major changes were introduced to the regime. These were:
(i) Freezing of existing foreign currency accounts; and
(ii) Restrictions and fundamental changes in PERA.
The text of the amendment then introduced was:
ORDINANCE No. XXI OF 1999
AN ORDINANCE to amend the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992
WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992 (XII of 1992), for the purposes hereinafter appearing;
AND WHEREAS the National Assembly and the Senate stand suspended in pursuance of the Proclamation of Emergency of the Fourteenth day of October, 1999, and the Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 as amended:
AND WHEREAS the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action;
Now, THEREFORE, in pursuance of Proclamation of the fourteenth day of October, 1999, and Provisional Constitutional Order No. l of 1999, as amended, as well as Order No.9 of 1999, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to make and promulgate the following Ordinance:
1. Short title and commencement :-(l) This Ordinance may be called the Protection of Economic Reforms (Amendment) Ordinance, 1999.
(2) It shall come into force at once.
2. Amendment of section 4, Act XII of 1992.-In the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992 (XII of 1992), hereinafter referred to as the said Act, section 4 shall be numbered as sub-section (1)of that section and after sub-section (1) numbered as above the following new sub-section shall be added, namely :-
"'(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to
(a) "any foreign exchange borrowed under any general permission given by the State Bank of Pakistan under sub-:section (1) of section 4 of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, 1947 (VII of 1947);
(b) any payment from abroad for goods exported from Pakistan;
(c) proceeds of securities issued or sold to non-residents;
(d) any payment received from abroad for services rendered in, or from, Pakistan;
(e) earnings or profits of the overseas offices or branches of Pakistani firms and companies including banks; and'
(f) any foreign exchange purchased from an authorized dealer in Pakistan for any purpose.".
3. Amendment of section 5, Act XII of 1992.-In the said Act, in section 5,-
(a) in sub-section (1), for the full stop at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be added, namely:-
"Provided that such immunity shall not be available to citizens of Pakistan residing in Pakistan and to firms, companies and other bodies registered or incorporated in Pakistan in respect of any new foreign currency account opened or deposits created on or after the 16th day of December, 1999 or to any incremental deposits thereafter in an existing foreign currency account"; and
(b) in sub-section (2) for the full stop at the end, a colon shah be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be added, namely:
"Provided that such exemption shall not be available to citizens of Pakistan residing in Pakistan and to firms, companies and other bodies registered or incorporated in Pakistan in respect of any balance in a new foreign currency account opened or deposits created on or after the 16th day of December, 1999 or to incremental deposits created on or after the 16th day of December, 1999 in an existing foreign currency account and income therefrom.".
By way of provisos inserted in Section 5 to PERA all the immunities, protection or concession were withdrawn for foreign currency accounts opened after December 16, 1999. In addition to the same certain corrections were also made with respect to holding of foreign currency and a section 4(2) was inserted which provided that right to hold, sell or transfer foreign currency was not made available for cases and sources identified in that section. This meant that unregulated regime was finished.
Reinstatement of Immunity for Foreign Currency Accounts
Restrictions placed on foreign currency account in 1999 were completely reinstated in 2001 and a new law was introduced to safeguard the original protection or concession available PERA. This law is termed as 'Foreign Currency Accounts (Protection) Ordinance, 2001. (FCAO).
The text of FCAO is as under:
THE FOREIGN CURRENCY ACCOUNTS (PROTECTION ORDINANCE, 2001
ORDINACNE NO. I OF 2001 [28TH September 2001]
An Ordinance to provide for protection to foreign currency accounts
WHERE HEREFORE, in pursuance of the proclamation of Emergency of the Fourteenth day of October, 1999, AND THE Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 of 1999, read with the Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order No. 9 of 1999, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to make and, promulgate the following Ordinance.
1. Short title, extent and commencement.-(1) This Ordinance may be called the Foreign Currency Accounts (Protection) Ordinance, 2001.
(2) It extends to the whole of Pakistan.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2.Definitions. In this Ordinance unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context.
(a) "authorised dealer" means a person authorized, under section 3 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (VII of 1947), by the State Bank to deal in foreign exchange;
(b) "foreign currency" means the foreign currency other than the Pakistan currency;
(c) "foreign currency accounts" means a foreign currency account opened with an authorized dealer after the 28th May, 1998; and
(d) "State Bank" means the State Bank of Pakistan established under the State Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956 (XXXIII of 1956).
3. Protection of foreign currency accounts.- No person holding a foreign currency account shall be deprived of his right to hold or operate such account or in any manner be restricted temporarily or permanently to lawfully sell withdraw, remit, transfer, use as security or take out foreign currency therefrom within or outside Pakistan.
4. Indemnity. No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Federal Government any person for anything in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Ordinance or any rule; direction or order made thereunder.
5. Ordinance to override other laws.- (1) Subject to subsection (2), the provisions of this Ordinance shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (VII of 1947) the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 (XXXI of 1979) or any other law for the time being in force.
(2) The protection provided to a foreign currency account holder under this Ordinance shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the protection provided under the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992 (XII of 1992).
6. Power to make rules, etc.-(1) The Federal Government may in consultation with the State Bank, by notification in the official Gazette make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Ordinance.
(2) The State Bank may make regulations consistent with the provisions of this Ordinance and the rules made thereunder to provide for all matters for which provision is necessary for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Ordinance.
(3) All rules, regulations, under or instructions in respect of foreign currency accounts made or issued by the Federal Government or, as the case may be, the State Bank, before the commencement of this Ordinance, shall in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, shall have effect and shall be deemed to have been made or issued under this Ordinance.
Combined Reading PERA and FCAO
Under Section 3 FCAO foreign currency accounts were allowed all the immunities which were available under PERA. Furthermore the Section 3 of FCAO is wider than the immunity laid down in PERA. The text states as under:
No person holding a foreign currency account shall be deprived of his right to hold or operate such account or in any manner be restricted temporarily or permanently to lawfully sell withdraw, remit, transfer, use as security or take out foreign currency therefrom within or outside Pakistan.
This section further provides that there can be 'transfer' and or use or 'take out' foreign currency therefrom within or outside Pakistan. This meant that there cannot be any restriction of any amount held in any foreign currency account.
The other relevant section of FCAO is Section 5 of the Ordinance. This section as reproduced as above states as under:
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the provisions of this Ordinance shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (VII of 1947) the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 (XXXI of 1979) or any other law for the time being in force.
(2) The protection provided to a foreign currency account holder under this Ordinance shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the protection provided under the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992 (XII of 1992).
Interpretation of sub-section 2 of FCAO is very important and critical. Under the practical interpretation this section had been operated in the manner that all the protections and concessions as available under the 'original' PERA are deemed to be applicable to the foreign currency accounts. This means no enquiry as to the sources. On the other hand there is a view that only the protections and concessions as available at the time of enactment of FCAO being 2001 are available. Since the protections and concessions were withdrawn in 1999 therefore reference to PERA be read as it stood in 1999. This meant that enquiry could be made. Notwithstanding these technical aspects as stated above for practical purposes all protections and concession in original PERA were deemed to be available from 2001 to 2018. This further means that there was complete immunity to foreign currency accounts and such accounts could be fed by foreign currency acquired from money changers and or exchange companies. There was no questioning or enquiry as to the source.
This was the position as stood before the Finance Act, 2018.
For all practical purposes PERA has to be read with FCAO. It cannot be read without FCAO. This is the reason that FCAO cannot be repealed as it is primary law that provides immunity for accounts opened after 2001till to-date.
The following changes introduced to the Finance Bill 2018:
The Finance Bill 2018 has changed the whole foreign currency regime as was in force from 1992 to 2018 except with short interval of one year 1999 to 2001.
The changes introduced by Finance Bill 2018 have been identified in the text of the PERA for the purposes of clarity.
PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC REFORMS ACT 1992 ACT No. XII OF 1992
An Act to provide for furtherance and protection of Economic Reforms
WHEREAS it is necessary to create a liberal environment for savings and investments; and other matters relating thereto;
AND WHEREAS a number of economic reforms have been introduced and are in the process of being introduced to achieve the aforesaid objectives;
AND WHEREAS it is necessary to provide legal protection to these reforms in order to create confidence in the establishment and continuity of the liberal economic environment created thereby;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title extent and commencement.- (1) This Act, may be called the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992.
(2) It extends to the whole of Pakistan.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.- In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) "Government" includes both the Federal Government and any Provincial Government;
(b) "economic reforms" means economic policies and programmes, laws and regulations announced, promulgated or implemented by the Government on and after the seventh day of November, 1990, relating to privatization of public sector enterprises, and nationalized banks, promotion of savings and investments, introduction of, fiscal incentives for industrialization and deregulation of investment, banking, finance, exchange and payments systems, holding and transfer of currencies; and
(c) All other expressions used in this Ordinance shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them under the relevant laws.
3. Act to Over-ride other laws. This [provisions of this] Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained [in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. 1947 (VII of 1947). the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 (XXXI of 1979), or any other law for the time being in force the] Foreign Currency Accounts (Protection) Ordinance, 2001 (L of 2001).
The words in bracket and bold have been deleted and words in bold have been added. The effect of these amendments is that from now onwards foreign currency accounts and the PERA will not override the provisions of Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, 1947 and the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. This means that now PERA is subservient to FERA and Income Tax Ordinance, 2001
However an overriding effect to FCAO has been laid down for the reasons that there are certain protection in FCAO that should now be subject to amended PERA.
4. Freedom to bring, hold, sell and take out foreign currency.- (1) All citizens of Pakistan resident in Pakistan or outside Pakistan and all other persons shall be entitled and free to bring, hold, sell, transfer and take out foreign exchange within or out of Pakistan in any form [and shall not be required to make a foreign currency declaration at any stage nor shall anyone be questioned in regard to the same]
This amendment is an extremely important change. In the past there was immunity from any declaration and questioning about holding, selling and take out of foreign currency. That freedom has now been taken away.
'[(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to-
(a) any foreign exchange borrowed under any general permission given by the State Bank of Pakistan under sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Foreign Exchange Act, 1947 (VII of 1947);
(b) any payment from abroad for good exported from Pakistan;
(c) proceeds of securities issued or sold to non-residents;
(d) any payment received from abroad for services rendered in, or from Pakistan;
(e) earnings or profits of the overseas offices or branches of Pakistani firm and companies including banks; and
(f) any foreign exchange purchased from an authorized dealer, money changer or exchange company in Pakistan for any purpose;
(g) cross border or inland movement of foreign currencies in cash exceeding USS 10.000 or equivalent subject to such annual ceiling as may be prescribed by the State Bank of Pakistan.
Two amendments made in this section are extremely important. The first change is that any money purchased from any money changer or exchange-company in Pakistan shall not be entitled for the freedom available under PERA. This means that now onwards the purchase of foreign currency from money changer or exchange-company shall not be entitled to any concession or benefit under PERA and such rights will now be subject to the FERA.
The second change is also very important. Now cash movement of foreign currency whether cross border or inland is not allowed if it exceeds USD 10,000. The law further provides that State Bank of Pakistan may provide such annual ceiling for movement. This effectively means that SBP may prescribe that during the whole year a person may prescribe a ceiling for cross border movement. This also actually means that now onwards, there is no possibility of holding more than USD 10,000. All persons holding USD 10,000 have to decide accordingly.
5. Immunities to foreign currency accounts.- (1) All citizens of Pakistan resident in Pakistan or outside Pakistan who hold foreign currency accounts in Pakistan, and all other persons who hold such accounts, shall continue to enjoy immunity against any inquiry from the Income Tax Department or any other taxation authority as to the source of financing of the foreign currency accounts.
'[Provided that such immunity shall not be available to citizens of Pakistan residing in Pakistan and to firms, companies and other bodies registered or incorporated in Pakistan in respect of any new foreign currency account opened or deposits created on or after the 16th day of December, 1999 or to any incremental deposits thereafter in an existing foreign currency account]; and
(2)The balances in the foreign currency accounts and income there from shall continue to remain exempted from the levy of wealth-tax and income tax and compulsory deduction of Zakat at source. '[:]
'[Provided that such exemption shall not be a available to citizens of Pakistan residing in Pakistan and to firms, companies and other bodies registered or incorporated in Pakistan in respect of any balance n a new foreign currency account opened or deposits created on or after the 16th day of December, 1999 or to incremental deposits created on or after the 16th day of December, 1999 in an existing foreign currency account and income therefrom.]
(3)The banks shall maintain complete secrecy in respect of transactions in the foreign currency accounts except as otherwise required under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. 1947 (VII of 1947) or the Income Tax Ordinance. 2001 (XL1X of 2001).
(4)The State Bank of Pakistan or other banks shall not impose any restrictions on deposits in and withdrawals from the foreign currency accounts and restrictions if any shall stand withdrawn forthwith;
Provided that no cash shall be deposited in an account of a citizen of Pakistan, resident in Pakistan, unless the account holder is a filer as defined in the Income Tax Ordinance. 2001 (XLIX of 2001):
Provided further that the Federal Government may make rules governing deposits in and withdrawals from the foreign currency accounts.;
Under the first amendment no 'secrecy' provision will be available if the same is in contravention to the provisions of FERA or Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
Under original PERA, SBP is not allowed to place any restriction on deposits in and withdrawal from the foreign currency accounts. A proviso has been inserted that such restriction will now be subject to the condition that cash deposit facility will be restricted to a person who is 'filer' under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. This amendment is also required to be read with the amendment made in Section 4(2) above where freedom to hold foreign currency cannot apply to foreign currency purchased from money changers and exchange-companies. If read together there is a possible interpretation that feeding cash even to filer is one that has not been purchased from money changer or exchange-company.
It has however been stated that Federal Government may make rules for deposits in and withdrawals from foreign currency accounts. This means that for general rules for deposits in and withdrawals from the foreign currency accounts will be made to facilitate genuine feeding and onward remittances by persons being filers.
If the amendment made in PERA are read in conjunction then it is not difficult to understand that whole structure of foreign exchange regime has been changed.
It is important to note that concessions and protections under PERA had the judicial sanctity also which was provided in the case reported as 1998 PTD 34 decided by the Full Bench of the Lahore High Court and the said order has not been challenged before the Supreme Court. The concluding paragraph of that order is as under:
"32. On consideration of various provisions of the Protection of Economic Reform Act, 1992 we have reached to the conclusion that so far as foreign currency accounts are concerned that so far as immunity from inquiry and scrutiny and complete secrecy must be maintained in respect of those accounts which cannot be violated by any agency or functionary. That being so , neither the income tax authorities nor Federal Investigation Agency has any jurisdiction to hold any inquiry in respect of the transactions in the foreign currency accounts nor could be made basis of criminal prosecution"
The amendments made in PERA whereby FCAO has been made subservient to PERA have effectively removed all the concessions and protections available to foreign currency account. As per authors' understanding now foreign currency accounts can effectively only be funded by remittance from abroad, which in our view was the original objective of PERA. Rupee feeding in the foreign currency account is effectively very limited and not possible as purchase of foreign currency from money changer and exchange-companies does not have the protection that was earlier available.
There can be views on the amendment made in the Finance Bill, 2018 however there is no second view that 'rupee feeding' by all persons, whether being a filer or otherwise, was highly desirable as it was a step in clear violation of spirit of PERA. Furthermore, there is no reason why there should not be access of the income tax department on the amount kept in the foreign currency accounts.
In summary the changes are:
-- PERA has been made subservient to FERA of 1947;
-- The overriding effect of PERA over Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 has been removed;
-- The concept of no declaration and no enquiry about balances and transactions in foreign currency account has been finished;
-- Rupee feeding in foreign currency account has been restricted to foreign currency accounts maintained by a tax filer;
-- The manner of feeding even by the filer will be subject to regulations to be made by State Bank of Pakistan for that purpose;
-- The 'hawala' transactions where there was movement through TT will not be possible as the questioning of source has been implemented;
-- The concept of secrecy has been diluted with respect to foreign currency account; and
-- Physical cross border and inland movement of foreign currency exceeding USD 10,000 has been restricted.
In short, the regime as was there since 1992 has finished.