A.P.(DIR Series) Circular No.70
External
Commercial Borrowings - Parking of funds abroad
Authorised
dealers are aware that corporates raising External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs)
are required to bring the funds to India in terms of para 15(A) of the
Guidelines on Policies & Procedures for ECBs 1999-2000 issued by Government of
India. Such funds are, however, permitted, on application, to be retained
abroad in a bank account with the permission of the concerned Regional Office
of Reserve Bank.
2. It has now
been decided that corporates raising ECBs may retain the funds abroad in a
bank account for their future forex requirements subject to the following :-
-
The debits in
the account should be only for approved purposes for which the loan is
raised.
-
The payment to
the overseas supplier, if any, shall be made against usual import documents
including Bill of Lading/Airway Bill. Further, documentary evidence in
support of imports made into India should be submitted to the concerned
Regional Office of Reserve Bank alongwith the ECB2 return, duly certified by
a Chartered Accountant.
-
The deposit
held abroad should not be utilised for any fund based or non-fund based
facilities in India.
-
The account
should be closed as soon as the forex requirements are met and any unspent
balance should be repatriated to India immediately.
3. The following
details of the account (in soft copy form) should be submitted to the
concerned Regional Office of Reserve Bank, through the authorised dealer,
within 8 days of opening of the account.
-
Name of the
bank and branch
-
Date of
opening of account and account no.
-
Name of the
borrower
-
Name of the
lender.
-
GOI/RBI
approval no. & date.
-
RBI
Registration no.
-
Purpose of
loan
-
Amount of
loan
-
Amount in
equivalent USD
-
Amount parked
abroad
4. Further, the
details of balances held abroad should be reported in the relativeECB2 return,
as hitherto.
5. The above
relaxations, subject to review, shall be effective for a period upto June 30,
2003.
6. Authorised
dealers may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their
constituents concerned.
7. The directions
contained in this circular have been issued under Section 10(4) and Section
11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (42 of 1999).