Venezuela May Tighten Foreign Currency Trading Rules

Venezuela may force companies to seek central bank authorization to buy and sell dollar-denominated securities as part of a government effort to reduce “speculation” in the unregulated currency market, lawmaker Ricardo Sanguino said.

Sanguino, the president of the congressional finance committee and a member of the ruling government coalition, said in an interview that he’ll present a bill tomorrow that would change two articles in the foreign-exchange law to give the central bank more oversight of the market. Approval of the bill would require brokerages, banks and other companies to request central bank clearance to make transactions in the parallel market, he said.