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About Brian Botta
Expertise

Relocating to a foreign country and adjusting to life in a different culture, with a different language and a different set of values can be difficult. As a foreign expatriate living in Venezuela I've become rather well acquainted with how the country operates and how to avoid problems in Venezuela.

I have specific expertise with regard to the relocation of English speaking individuals and families to Margarita Island, including the associated issues of renting or buying a home, acquiring language training, acquiring a residence or investor visa, opening bank accounts, finding competent professionals (doctors, lawyers, accountants, dentists, etc.) placing children in a private school and other associated issues involved with relocating individuals or families to Margarita Island.



Experience


Experience in the area
I (a US Citizen) relocated my family to Margarita Island in early 2005, and we have been living here since that time. We are now residents of Venezuela, living normal lives and doing business here on the Island.

I am active in real estate development and sales, as well as helping foreigners relocate to Margarita Island. I'm a writer, and my website (http://bulletproofretirement.com) has over 200 articles on the various aspects of relocation abroad and moving to Margarita. As a writer and researcher I am quite experienced with providing complete answers to specific questions.

I currently assist with the relocation of 1 to 2 individuals each month, about half of them from the US and the rest from Canada and the UK. Some of the clients are retirees, others are business or real estate investors who need assistance in finding quality properties to purchase. In either case, I've become experienced in solving problems with moving to Venezuela.


 
   

You are here:  Experts > Cultures > South America for Visitors > Venezuela > Taking money out of Venezuela: New policies

Topic: Venezuela



Expert: Brian Botta
Date: 1/30/2008
Subject: Taking money out of Venezuela: New policies

Question
Hi Brian,

Iīve been following your advises on using the "casas de bolsas" in Caracas to exchange bolivares for dollars.
Currently it has become impossible to buy ADRīs in the stock market due to a new policy of the Venezuelan government. They became aware of the large amounts of money leaving the country by this "money-loophole".

As a Dutch person working in Venezuela but with business travels in Latin America (mostly Colombia), I need a way to exchange these devaluating bolivares into travelling money.

Do you have a suggestion?
I have several bank accounts in the Netherlands including ABN AMRO. I also have access to bank accounts in the US and in Europe.

Thanks a lot for your time!

Answer
Hello Anna

Nothing has changed except that large amounts of bonds were sold by the government during the period that the ADR's were removed from the market, and the effect was essentially to maintain the liquidity of the parallel market.  The "money-loophole" issue is that debt and equity swaps are not covered by the law on exchange of currency, and thus this operation is legal.  It is known as the "permuta de bonos."

Any casa de bolsa can perform this function, as well as some of the commercial banks.  If they're telling you that they cannot do this, perhaps they're looking for a larger commission?  I don't know, but this type of operation is done every day.

The Assembly National just passed the new law on illegal currency exchanges, adding penalties for illegally exchanging currency.  They could have specifically included the debt and equity swaps into the definitions and made the entire operation illegal... but they didn't.   The reason why is simple:

The parallel market is the escape valve for the economy, and without it, there would be major problems in Venezuela.  

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