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South Africa Proposes Crypto Assets Manual for Cross-Border Transfers Under Exchange Control, August 2026

On 3 August 2026, South Africa's National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) published the Draft Crypto Assets Manual for Cross-Border Activities for public comment, open until 30 September 2026. The manual would require all cross-border crypto transfers to be routed through an authorised dealer and reported to SARB's Financial Surveillance Department. It follows draft Capital Flow Management Regulations of 17 April 2026, which first brought crypto assets into South Africa's exchange control regime.

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South Africa's National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) published the Draft Crypto Assets Manual for Cross-Border Activities on 3 August 2026. The manual is open for public comment until 30 September 2026. It follows the Capital Flow Management Regulations published on 17 April 2026, which replaced the Exchange Control Regulations of 1961 and formally brought crypto assets into South Africa's cross-border capital management regime for the first time.

Under the draft manual, outbound crypto transfers must be conducted through an authorised dealer as defined under the Currency and Exchanges Act No. 9 of 1933 (as amended). Each transaction must be reported to the Financial Surveillance Department (FinSurv) of the SARB. The manual operates alongside existing obligations under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FICA) and Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) licensing requirements for crypto asset service providers (CASPs).

FSCA-licensed crypto asset service providers, banks acting as authorised dealers, and their clients sending crypto offshore are the primary parties affected. Routing all outbound transfers through authorised dealers would effectively prohibit direct peer-to-peer cross-border transfers. FSCA-licensed exchanges will need to build FinSurv reporting into their transaction processing workflows.

The manual is a consultation draft with no set effective date; SARB will finalise the instrument after reviewing submissions received by 30 September 2026. The draft does not address inbound crypto transfers, leaving that treatment to a subsequent instrument. Sanctions for breach of exchange control obligations would arise under the Currency and Exchanges Act and related instruments rather than the manual itself.

Licentium advises on crypto regulatory compliance across African jurisdictions and international markets. Work we undertake includes CASP licensing support, exchange control compliance structuring for digital assets, FSCA regulatory advisory, cross-border transaction compliance, and AML regulatory review.

Source: National Treasury and SARB, Draft Crypto Assets Manual for Cross-Border Activities, 3 August 2026

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