Are there any restrictions on re-payments being made to a foreign lender under a security document or loan agreement?
The Foreign Exchange Law governs commercial and financial transactions having an actual or potential impact on the balance of payments of Angola, and applies to capital transactions and foreign exchange trading. The following are deemed the most important foreign exchange (FX) operations:
Payments between FX residents and non-FX residents are subject to BNA’s control.
There are no restrictions. However, payments in foreign currency require clearance from the Central Bank, which is generally not granted. Therefore, although there are no restrictions in practice, foreign exchange regulations have made re-payments extremely difficult.
There are no restrictions on repayments being made to foreign lenders under security documents or loan agreements. However, parties will need to consider their obligations in respect of payment of withholding tax. There are restrictions on payments that have a prescribed connection with certain countries and terrorist groups.
There are no general restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
As far as the financing of real estate investments is concerned, both private individuals and legal entities not resident in Belgium may invest in Belgian real estate, whether outright or via the means of a company, and may obtain loans for this purpose from both Belgian or foreign banks without any restriction or limitation. However, by virtue of Belgian domestic tax law and certain Belgian tax treaties, the source of the interest payment may be considered to lie where the real asset is located, ie in Belgium. In such a case, the borrower can be liable to pay a withholding tax on the interest payments to the bank. The payment of such withholding tax could turn out to be significant for the lender or, if a gross-up is provided for in the loan agreement, for the borrower.
No such restrictions exist.
No, but the debtor or its legal representative must register with the Central Bank of Brazil payments made to a foreign lender. If it is a security document, it must comply with the rules and regulation applicable to foreign exchange. There are certain countries Brazil considers to be tax heavens, and additional bureaucracies will apply to any remittance to such country. It is also important to notice that Brazil has specific Transfer Pricing (TP) rules (Brazil is transitioning from its own TP model to OECD rules, which are optional in 2023 and they should be mandatory in 2024, but an approval from the Legislative branch is still pending) and thin capitalization rules that must be followed. Also, interest is subject to withholding income tax (WHT): usually at 15%, but if payment is made to a beneficiary in a tax, a 25% rate is applicable.
There are no restrictions on repayments being made to foreign lenders under security documents or loan agreements. However, parties will need to consider their obligations in respect of payment of withholding tax. There are also restrictions on payments that have a prescribed connection with certain countries and terrorist or other restricted groups.
SAFE will not process any conversion of foreign currency for the purpose of repayments being made to a foreign lender under a security document or loan agreement unless and until the underlying security document or loan agreement had been registered with SAFE or the relevant application has been approved by SAFE.
No text yet.
Interest on loans by foreign banks or other financial institutions is paid gross, ie free of withholding tax.
If the lender is not a bank or financial institution, a local company will be required to pay withholding tax unless it obtains a certificate for the avoidance of double taxation.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders. A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement unless the foreign lender is subject to financial sanctions imposed by the Kingdom of Denmark due to foreign policy or by obligation to international duties.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender, if the conditions which relate to withholding tax on interest payments are met.
There are generally no restrictions on repayments being made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
Under German national tax law, banks and other financial services providers must withhold taxes on interest payments made to foreign lenders which do not themselves qualify as a bank or financial services provider.
In addition, lenders enjoying security over German real estate must pay a certain limited amount of income tax on interest arising in Germany. This only becomes relevant for lenders resident in countries which do not have a double taxation treaty which excludes Germany’s right to levy taxes on interest paid to foreign lenders.
If, however the foreign lender has a permanent establishment in Germany and the loan is attributable to this permanent establishment, the foreign lender is subject to German taxation on the profit resulting from the loan. Depending on the applicable double taxation treaty the interest will generally be either tax exempt in the foreign jurisdiction or the German tax will be credited against the tax liability which arises in that foreign jurisdiction.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
There are no additional restrictions on payments being made to foreign lenders in Hungary. Depending on the lender’s tax residence, a withholding tax may apply to interest payments.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender, or its agent, in certain circumstances.
In principle, interest on loans paid by an Italian resident borrower to a non-resident lender are subject to source taxation in Italy. The Italian borrower must apply a final withholding tax at a rate that varies depending on the residency of the lender (ie within or outside the European Union), levied on the gross amount of the interest paid. The final withholding tax is not applicable if the foreign lender has an Italian permanent establishment. In such case, interest received by the foreign lender through its Italian permanent establishment is qualified as 'business income' and taxed accordingly in Italy.
Please note that – save for the regulatory Italian rules concerning the reserve for carrying out lending activities – interests paid by Italian companies under medium- and long-term facilities made available by:
are exempt from any withholding tax.
Moreover, the abovementioned withholding tax can be reduced to zero in case of payment to EU resident lender if the conditions provided by the Interest and Royalty EU Directive (ie Directive 49/CE dated 3 June 2003) are met.
If the abovementioned exemptions are not applicable, the domestic withholding tax can be reduced according to the provisions set forth by the relevant double-tax treaty (ie DTT). Usually, DTTs signed between Italy and other countries reduce the amount of the withholding tax applicable to a reduced rate where certain conditions are satisfied.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender depending on the jurisdiction of incorporation of the parties and the application of any relevant tax treaties. The allocation of any tax risk is dealt with on a transaction by transaction basis in the facility agreement.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
Generally no, however, foreign lenders may need to be registered on the Financial Service Providers Register if they are in the business of providing a financial service (eg being a creditor under a credit contract) and carrying on business in New Zealand under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008 (FSPA).
However, the FSPA registration requirements only applies if the foreign lender’s activity is above certain FSPA registration thresholds. Assuming the foreign lender has no place of business in New Zealand, these are broadly:
Note that payments of interest to a foreign lender may be subject to non-resident withholding tax in New Zealand.
There are no restrictions to repayment of foreign loan facilities under financing documents. However, it is worthy of mention that the foreign lender should obtain a certificate of capital importation (CCI) at the point of advancing the loan capital to the Nigerian entity. A CCI guarantees ease of repatriation of the loan capital and or investment return in foreign currency at the official foreign exchange rate.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement. There is no withholding of tax in Norway on interest payable to foreign external lenders. This applies regardless of the lender being resident within the EU, EEA or in any other jurisdiction.
There are no restrictions on payments to foreign lenders made under a security document or loan agreement. A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender.
There are no restrictions to payments made to foreign lenders under security documents or under loan agreements.
There are no restrictions on payments to foreign lenders under loan agreements or security documents.
There are no restrictions on re-payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement. However, under the Foreign Exchange Act, re-payments made to foreign lenders under a loan agreement must be notified to the National Bank of Slovakia for statistical purposes.
A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender.
No.
No.
At present a foreign lender is not restricted on receiving repayments under a security or loan document, other than with respect to the following restrictions imposed by the UAE Central Bank:
We note that the Central Bank of the UAE may from time to time amend existing restrictions and/or impose additional restrictions.
At present, a foreign lender is not restricted on receiving repayments under a security or loan document, other than with respect to the following restrictions imposed by the UAE Central Bank:
We also note that the UAE Central Bank may from time to time amend existing restrictions and/or impose additional restrictions.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement, unless the relevant foreign lender's jurisdiction is subject to any sanctions regime.
A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender depending on the jurisdiction of incorporation of the parties and the application of any relevant double taxation treaties. The allocation of any tax risk is dealt with on a transaction by transaction basis in the facility agreement.
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
A borrower may be required to deduct withholding tax in respect of interest which is payable to a foreign lender.
The Ukrainian currency control rules have been significantly softened over the last two year; and the Ukrainian currency market regulator, the National Bank of Ukraine, is highly committed to continue the shift towards more liberal and investor-friendly currency regime.
However, some currency restrictions still apply before adoption of BEPS rules by the Ukrainian Parliament. For example, there are number of limits set out for payment abroad by Ukrainian residents: EUR 200,000 per year for individuals and EUR 2 million per year for legal entities. The National Bank of Ukraine envisages number of exemptions, when the above-defined limits can be overtopped. In particular, such limits do not apply to repayment of cross-border loans to foreign lenders and payments under security documents in respect of cross-border loans. It is worth noting, however, that the limits will apply, if Ukrainian company or individual pays under security given in respect of loans between non-Ukraine lenders and/or borrowers.
Still, the National Bank of Ukraine is authorised to introduce other currency control restrictive measures depending on the status of Ukrainian economy or the Ukrainian banking and financial system.
Depending on the state in which any mortgaged property is located and whether any portion of the mortgaged property is designated for residential use, a foreign lender may need to obtain a license in order to lend and receive repayment due under the loan documents. While lending activity is generally not implicated, in certain circumstances a federal statutory requirement to file a national security clearance process overseen by the US federal government body known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) may be required.
According the Exchange Control Act Regulations Statutory Instrument 109 of 1996, any application for the transfer of funds arising out of the purchase of immovable property by a foreign resident shall be submitted to the Reserve Bank through an authorized dealer for approval. Exchange Control approval must be obtained prior to obtaining such loans. The tenure, repayment periods, security and interest terms etc of such loans must be registered and must be in line with the exchange control guidelines and parameters for external borrowings.
