A cross-border payment should be the financial result of a commercial transaction that already makes sense.
Problems often arise where the revenue is real but the documentary chain is not. The contract identifies one company, the invoice another, delivery occurred elsewhere and the payment arrives in an account whose stated activity does not match the transaction.
The revenue is real. The documentary chain is not.
Changing which company issues the invoice or receives the money does not, by itself, change the underlying commercial transaction. Substance is not created by the payment destination.
The entities involved should have coherent commercial roles. Contracts, invoices and payment arrangements should reflect who genuinely performs the work, assumes the obligation and earns the revenue. Related-company arrangements require appropriate documents and specialist legal and tax analysis.
Mozambique’s current framework still applies
The foreign-exchange and banking treatment depends on the real transaction and current requirements. The authorised bank may need to understand the underlying business and documentary basis before processing or receiving a payment. Exact requirements remain transaction- and institution-specific.
The commercial arrangement should be clear before the authorised bank and appropriately qualified advisers confirm the applicable regulatory, legal and tax position.
The strongest documentary position is not the one with the most paperwork. It is the one in which the commercial reality, contracts and payment arrangements describe the same business.