Crypto crosses borders as South Africa rewrites the rules on capital flows
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South Africa’s exchange control landscape, specifically cross-border crypto asset transactions, regulatory compliance, and the tightening of capital flow frameworks, is changing fast. To help businesses keep pace and avoid pitfalls, Evan Pickworth hosts Bright Tibane, a partner at African law firm Bowmans.
This comes at quite a pivotal moment in South Africa. Back in April 2026, the National Treasury published the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations of 2026 (draft CFM Regulations) for public comment.
In the interview, Tibane explains that the draft CFM Regulations are really designed to repeal and replace the outdated Exchange Control Regulations of 1961. At their core, these draft regulations seek to do four things. First, they aim to align South Africa’s exchange control framework with international recommendations from the OECD and FATF to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and illicit financial flows. Second, they bring crypto assets into the exchange control ambit so we have proper oversight of these emerging instruments. Third, they clarify exemptions, permissions, and conditions around restrictions. Finally, they introduce a clear mechanism to impose administrative sanctions for non-compliance.
“They work hand-in-hand. The draft Crypto Manual complements the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations published in April. The manual gives us meaningful insight into how National Treasury and the SARB plan to operationalise those crypto provisions. It sets out the proposed framework for cross-border crypto transactions, how Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) will be authorised and regulated, and what reporting obligations will apply. In short, the draft CFM Regulations address existing gaps in our exchange control rules - particularly around cross-border crypto - and they will complement existing regulation by the FSCA and the Financial Intelligence Centre,” says Tibane.
This comes at quite a pivotal moment in South Africa. Back in April 2026, the National Treasury published the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations of 2026 (draft CFM Regulations) for public comment.
In the interview, Tibane explains that the draft CFM Regulations are really designed to repeal and replace the outdated Exchange Control Regulations of 1961. At their core, these draft regulations seek to do four things. First, they aim to align South Africa’s exchange control framework with international recommendations from the OECD and FATF to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and illicit financial flows. Second, they bring crypto assets into the exchange control ambit so we have proper oversight of these emerging instruments. Third, they clarify exemptions, permissions, and conditions around restrictions. Finally, they introduce a clear mechanism to impose administrative sanctions for non-compliance.
“They work hand-in-hand. The draft Crypto Manual complements the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations published in April. The manual gives us meaningful insight into how National Treasury and the SARB plan to operationalise those crypto provisions. It sets out the proposed framework for cross-border crypto transactions, how Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) will be authorised and regulated, and what reporting obligations will apply. In short, the draft CFM Regulations address existing gaps in our exchange control rules - particularly around cross-border crypto - and they will complement existing regulation by the FSCA and the Financial Intelligence Centre,” says Tibane.
