The current Exchange Control Regulations place restrictive controls on the transfer of South African owned Intellectual Property (IP) to any persons or entities outside of South Africa. South African residents who own IP are currently required to obtain approval for transfers of their IP and for the outward licensing of South African IP to non-residents. These Exchange Control Regulations have limited and restricted owners of IP in South Africa from commercializing their valuable IP.
In 2017, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) introduced some modernisation, in terms of which the approval of certain IP transactions between non-related parties, could be approved by an Authorised Dealer. Despite this modernisation, the current position, as set out in the Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorized Dealers, is that depending of the structure of the transaction, the transfer and licensing of SA-owned IP to a non-South African resident, whether related or unrelated requires approval from either an Authorized Dealer or the SARB. Read more