Countries › Chile › Guide › 5. FX and capital controls › What the Banco Central de Chile could restrict and what it cannot: channelling powers, reserve requirements, prior authorization and the legal limits that protect investors

What the Banco Central de Chile could restrict and what it cannot: channelling powers, reserve requirements, prior authorization and the legal limits that protect investors

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Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

No FX restrictions are in force in Chile today, but the Central Bank law gives the Bank a defined set of tools it could switch on: forcing more operations through the formal market, requiring export proceeds to be brought home, a reserve requirement of up to 40 percent on foreign credits and investments, prior authorization for some payments abroad and limits on FX holdings of market entities. Each is boxed in by law: a majority of the full Council, a stability or balance of payments reason, a term of at most one year, a possible Finance Minister veto, and protections for imports, for money already invested and for agreements signed with the Bank.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial for 23 October 2026 (Ley Nº 18.840 art. 44 and CNCI Chapter I, Section VII). UF values use UF 1 = CLP 41,205.16 (23 October 2026) and UTM values use UTM 1 = CLP 72,151 (October 2026), both as published by the Servicio de Impuestos Internos. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

FX restrictions currently applied	None textCNCI Chapter I, Section I, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum reserve requirement the Central Bank may impose	40 %Ley Nº 18.840 art. 49 Nº 2, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum term of a FX restriction before renewal	1 yearLey Nº 18.840 art. 50, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Vote needed to impose a restriction	Majority of all Council members; unanimity if the Finance Minister vetoes textLey Nº 18.840 art. 50, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Minimum term the Bank could set to bring home export proceeds	90 daysLey Nº 18.840 art. 42 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum delay the Bank could impose on FX access to pay imports	180 daysLey Nº 18.840 art. 49 Nº 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum guarantee the Bank could require from non compliant exporters	50 %Ley Nº 18.840 art. 42, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. The Central Bank may require that specific FX operations be reported to it in writing, but it must identify those operations precisely and specifically.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 40, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. By a reasoned agreement of a majority of the full Council, the Bank may require that these operations take place only in the formal market: (1) bringing home and converting export proceeds of goods, within terms of at least 90 days from shipment for the return and at least 10 days after that for conversion; (2) bringing home and converting proceeds of service exports, freight, commissions, insurance and other payments earned abroad by residents, on similar minimum terms (payment is presumed to occur no later than 180 days after the shipment or the obligation); (3) payments abroad in foreign currency for imports, services, royalties, technical assistance, insurance and any other payment to non residents; (4) remittances to invest, contribute capital, lend or deposit abroad; and (5) conversion into pesos of foreign currency received by residents. It may extend or waive the return obligations, and may require exporters who have not complied to post guarantees of no more than 50 percent of new operations.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 42, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. The Bank may also impose restrictions on formal market operations: (1) an obligation to bring home and convert export and other proceeds; (2) a reserve requirement (encaje) on foreign currency credits, deposits or investments coming from or going abroad, only for operations remitted after it is imposed and never above 40 percent of the operation, payable in foreign or local currency, with interest at no more than normal market rates; (3) prior authorization for payments and remittances abroad and for pension fund investments abroad, which can never apply to payments for imports of goods and their costs (for imports it may only delay access to the formal market up to 180 days after shipment, and only for goods shipped after the measure); (4) limiting formal market entities to operations the Bank expressly authorizes, though FX for imports and exports of goods and for servicing foreign investments and credits remains free; and (5) general limits on the foreign currency holdings of banks and other formal market entities.
Cost to do it: None today. A 40 percent reserve on a new US$1,000,000 credit would immobilize US$400,000 (CLP 394,632,000) for the period the Bank set.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 49, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Art. 49 Nº 2 was amended by Ley Nº 21.641 (Diario Oficial 30 December 2023), art. 3 Nº 8.

4. In using these powers the Bank may never require operations to be done only with itself or under conditions that do not ensure competition, and may never require prior deposits or other requirements not in the law for imports and exports of goods and their costs.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 49, final paragraphs, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Restrictions under art. 49 need an agreement of a majority of all Council members, grounded on currency stability or balance of payments financing, for a preset term of at most one year, renewable under the same rules. The Minister of Finance may veto the agreement, in which case the restriction can only be adopted with the vote of all Council members. Lifting or changing a restriction early also requires a majority of the full Council and may be vetoed.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 50, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Where money came in as investments, capital contributions or credits from abroad, the Bank must allow access to the formal market to meet the resulting obligations on the general terms in force when the currency was converted. Separately, the Bank may sign agreements with investors and creditors setting how capital, interest and profits may be used or remitted and guaranteeing them free access to the formal market; such agreements follow general Council rules and can be changed only by mutual agreement.Ley Nº 18.840, Organic Constitutional Law of the Banco Central de Chile, Art. 49 Nº 1, second paragraph, and art. 47, 1989-10-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

7. The Compendium states that, under the floating exchange rate framework, no FX restrictions are currently applied; the limitations in force are only the channelling of certain operations through the formal market and the reporting of certain operations to the Bank.FX Compendium (CNCI) approved by Central Bank Agreement Nº 2617-03-240125, in force from 1 January 2026, CNCI Chapter I, Sections I to III and V, 2024-01-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Tool	Status	Legal limit	Article
Written reporting of specific operations	In force (CNCI Chapter II)	Operations must be identified precisely	40
Channelling through the formal market	In force for foreign assets, liabilities and derivatives	Council majority; listed operation types	42
Return and conversion of export proceeds	Not applied	At least 90 days to return and 10 to convert	42 Nº 1, 49 Nº 1
Reserve requirement on foreign credits and investments	Not applied	Up to 40 percent; only new remittances; up to 1 year	49 Nº 2, 50
Prior authorization of payments abroad	Not applied	Never for imports of goods; import delay up to 180 days	49 Nº 3
Limits on FX holdings of market entities	Not applied	General criteria only	49 Nº 5

Central Bank FX tools under Ley Nº 18.840: status and legal limits (CNCI Chapter I states no restrictions are currently applied).

Worked example

Suppose the Bank imposed a 30 percent reserve on new foreign credits. A Chilean company receiving a US$2,000,000 loan (CLP 1,973,160,000) after the measure would have to keep US$600,000 (CLP 591,948,000) as a reserve for the set period; a loan remitted before the measure would not be affected (art. 49 Nº 2).
Even under such a measure, a company paying for imported machinery could not be required to get prior authorization for the payment, though access to the formal market for that payment could be deferred up to 180 days from shipment for goods shipped after the measure (art. 49 Nº 3).
A foreign investor that brought in capital before the measure keeps access to the formal market to remit it and its profits on the general terms in force when its currency was converted (art. 49 Nº 1).

Step by step

1. Keep evidence of the date and terms on which each investment, capital contribution or loan was converted in Chile; it fixes the rules that protect later remittances.
2. Watch Central Bank Council agreements published in the Diario Oficial for any new restriction and its term.
3. For long term projects, consider whether a convention with the Bank under art. 47 or other legal stability instruments are worth negotiating.
4. Structure trade flows knowing that payments for imports of goods can never require prior authorization.

Common traps

Reading these powers as controls in force. The Compendium states none are applied; only channelling and reporting operate.
Assuming a restriction could be open ended. Each needs a preset term of up to one year and a fresh vote to renew.
Assuming a reserve would hit existing loans. It applies only to operations remitted after it is imposed.
Forgetting that formal market channelling is itself a power in use. It already applies to foreign credits, deposits, investments and capital contributions.

Sources

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