Far-Reaching Amendment To Exchange Control Regulations

On 8 June 2012 the President of South Africa gazetted a brief, but far-reaching, amendment to the Exchange Control Regulations which restricts the transfer of ownership (and possibly licencing) of intellectual property from a South African resident to a non-resident.

The amendments were made in a purported attempt to extend the application of the regulations to "any intellectual property right, whether registered or unregistered".

This was achieved by expanding the meaning of the otherwise undefined term "capital". The term "exported from the Republic" was also extended to include "the cession of, the creation of a hypothec or other form of security over, the assignment or transfer of any intellectual property right, to or in favour of a person who is not resident in the Republic".