Moroccan Banks

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Nick Malandrinos

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Can anyone supply a list of Moroccan Banks I might contact re financing a property purchase??
Thanks
Nick
 
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Lee Filkins

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You will need the patience of a Saint and get ready for most obscure and weird paper work requirements.

Dont also forget that under Moroccan law you will need to pay 10% VAT on the interest rates. Yes you have read it correctly. e,g interest rate 5% +10% VAT so you will be paying 0.50% VAT to the Moroccan Government until your mortgage has been paid out.

You will also have to service the loan in foreign exchange under Moroccan law you cannot pay Dirhams. So if you intend to rent your property you will be sitting with lots of Dirhams in your pocket and where will you spend it ?

Finally, your rent will attract VAT of 10%. So its not correct to say the there is no Tax on Moroccan property rental.
 
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Nick Malandrinos

New Member
Moroccan Mortgages

Dear Camel With 3 Humps
This sounds very bleak indeed and on the surface I cannot imagine why anyone would want to pay a Moroccan Mortgage and buy/rent a property there. However, as Morocco is so popular at the moment, many people are investing there so there must be profitable.
Whilst what you say is very informative I would invite others to comment about your reply.
Kind Regards
Nick

You will need the patience of a Saint and get ready for most obscure and weird paper work requirements.

Dont also forget that under Moroccan law you will need to pay 10% VAT on the interest rates. Yes you have read it correctly. e,g interest rate 5% +10% VAT so you will be paying 0.50% VAT to the Moroccan Government until your mortgage has been paid out.

You will also have to service the loan in foreign exchange under Moroccan law you cannot pay Dirhams. So if you intend to rent your property you will be sitting with lots of Dirhams in your pocket and where will you spend it ?

Finally, your rent will attract VAT of 10%. So its not correct to say the there is no Tax on Moroccan property rental.
 
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Lee Filkins

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Sadly, people do not do enough research for what ever reason. what happened in Spain is a good example for all of us.

People go on an inspection trip for a short time and take a decesion. If they are prudent they should do all aspects of the research before hand. Whilst the last thing should be the inspection flight.
 
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annelk

New Member
re the comment 'under Moroccan law you cannot pay Dirhams'

I am in the process of buying in Saidia.
I had read that you couldn't repatriate profit if you originally paid in Dirhams so asked my solicitor and she advised that this is not so (gave me a very long answer on the phone, which I understood to mean that what I had read was not relevant in this case). I hope she is right because I am paying the deposits in Dirhams.
If anyone else knows different I woould be grateful for the knowledge now.
 
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annelk

New Member
repatriating profit

You say I can't take Dirham out, fair enough. But can I convert the Dirham to Sterling and take that?

A separate point about the comments above - that collecting rental in Dirham might give a problem. Some businesses in Morocco ask to paid in Euros so it wouldn't be unusual to do that, so avoiding the issue.
 
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Janoulaki

New Member
is this answer ok?

The Moroccan dirham is the official currency. Bills come in denominations of 20, 50, 100 and 200 dirhams. Coins come in denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 dirhams (there are two kinds of 5-dirham coins). Dirhams are divided into 100 centimes; there are 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-centime (half-dirham) coins.

It is illegal to import or export Moroccan dirhams. Upon leaving Morocco, tourists can reconvert only up to 50 % of the dirhams for which they have exchange slips at the bank at the airport.

PS:

if you have moroccan bank account you can always transfer money back to UK
 
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Sunnyshores

New Member
I have contacted BMCE bank in London and they offer mortgages to foreigners on rental properties in morocco. They speak relatively good english and you can take all your papers to their office in London for approval, so seems easy enough. Their fees and interest rates are reasonable if you contact them directly, through a broker they charge considerably more. I didnt pursue it as I dont need a mortgage yet.

BMCE Bank London
(+ 44) 207 518 8252
[email protected]
26 Upper Brook Street
London W1K 7QE

Re - 10% VAT on interest rates, not sure how this works. Also I was told by BMCE that an individual can only get one Moroccan mortgage at a time. Thus restricting purchases via this route.
 
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adilchaoui

New Member
re the comment 'under Moroccan law you cannot pay Dirhams'

I am in the process of buying in Saidia.
I had read that you couldn't repatriate profit if you originally paid in Dirhams so asked my solicitor and she advised that this is not so (gave me a very long answer on the phone, which I understood to mean that what I had read was not relevant in this case). I hope she is right because I am paying the deposits in Dirhams.
If anyone else knows different I woould be grateful for the knowledge now.

Hi Annelk,

I live in the US and I am also interested in Saidia (off plan progect),however, I heard mixed messages and I am not sure what to do.
You seem to have researched this and if you have any advice, please share it. Unfortunately, I cannot post my email because I am a "junior member". However, you can use this: adilDOTchaouiATgmailDOTcom
As far as the currency, as a foreign investor, you should be able to open an account in a foreign currency (for me would be dollars) and you can convert and wire your money.

Let me know what you think!!

Cheers

Adil
 
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Lee Filkins

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"Re - 10% VAT on interest rates, not sure how this works. Also I was told by BMCE that an individual can only get one Moroccan mortgage at a time. Thus restricting purchases via this route."

Say if the interest rate is 5%, you than add 10% Vat on the 5% so its gives you an interest rate of 5.50%. in another way if your monthly paument is €100 you add 10%, you than pay €110 per month, the €10 is the VAT.

As per Moroccan law one mortgage is allowed per person. When you apply for a mortgage you have to provide a swon document to this effect.

If you intend to buy more than one property than make sure that you dont buy in joint names and this give you the possibilty of applying in your partnerws name later on.
 
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Lee Filkins

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" had read that you couldn't repatriate profit if you originally paid in Dirhams so asked my solicitor and she advised that this is not so (gave me a very long answer on the phone, which I understood to mean that what I had read was not relevant in this case). I hope she is right because I am paying the deposits in Dirhams".

Due to the exchange restrictions ( Hopefully in future this will not be the case.) The bottem line is that wether you makepayment in Dirhams or in other currency.

Your solicitor has to open a account/reference with the relevent ministry to identify you as a foreign investor. Once this is done all your funds should be recorded there irrespective of the type of currency.

All good reputable builders are doing this for their buyers. My developer is doing this and is also placing mine and others monies in an Escrow account as by the law.
 
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Lee Filkins

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We are not talking about opening an account, here.
 
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samkim2018

New Member
dirhams

I visited Morocco and accidently took some dirhams back to the states, loose change. Do I need to send it back? How?
 
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Jesus of nazareth

New Member
You will have to take it back in person, ask for the loose change offence officer, in Morocco every local police station has one.

Hand yourself in now before its too late.




NURSE........... ITS TIME FOR MY MEDICATION
 
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lurcher21

New Member
Can you take your money out of Morocco?? Good question - I recently could not even get 2000 euros out of my Moroccan bank account (even though I am a foreigner and have an account in 'dirhams convertibles') I had to ask a friend with an account at the same bank (although the rule is the same at other banks) who has a Moroccan passport but is resident in France, and I had to transfer the equivalent of 2000 euros into her bank account, then she withdrew the cash and gave it to me!
Having sold my property now, and I have all the relevant 'quittus fiscale' receipts etc, I now have to go via the 'Office de Change' to transfer the funds back to the original European bank they came from (and I have to have proof of the transfers too)
What I would like to know is - what is the situation re: the security of Moroccan banks? Are there any guarantees on savings deposited in Moroccan banks similar to the guarantees given by some European countries?
 
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