What is a convertible dirham account (CDC) in Morocco in 2026?

The Office des Changes is the public institution responsible for the regulation and control of foreign exchange operations. The General Instruction on Foreign Exchange Operations (IGOC) consolidates the rules applicable to transactions between residents and non-residents (transfers, imports, exports, investments, foreign currency and convertible dirham accounts) and is updated every year. Banks approved by Bank Al-Maghrib (Law 103-12) carry out these transactions as authorized intermediaries and send the reports to the Office des Changes.

Each regime has its own opening conditions, funding arrangements and authorized uses, set by the IGOC. MRE may hold both a foreign currency account and a convertible dirham account, funded by their transfers from abroad.

A foreign investment (setting up a company, capital increase, acquiring a shareholding, partner's current account or partner loan) only benefits from the transfer guarantee if it is financed in foreign currency: transfer from abroad, debit from a foreign currency account or a CDC, or conversion into capital of a current account itself funded in foreign currency. The steps of the investment, the report to the Office des Changes and the taxation are detailed in our guide on foreign investment in a Moroccan company.

For the holder of a CDC, three points matter:

• Proof of the contribution: the bank issues the certificate of sale of foreign currency (Formule 2), which the investor keeps with the articles of association and the Commercial Register extract. The bank handles the regulatory reporting to the Office des Changes, from which the investor may also request written confirmation of eligibility for convertibility.
• Guaranteed transfers: dividends, interest on partners' current accounts and partner loans in foreign currency, sale or liquidation proceeds (including the capital gain), after payment of the taxes due in Morocco, including the withholding tax on dividends of 11.25% in 2026 and 10% from 2027, or the treaty rate (see the taxation of dividends in Morocco).
• No foreign currency: an investment financed in dirhams without proof of foreign currency does not benefit from this guarantee; its sale proceeds are placed in a deferred convertible account (compte convertible à terme), transferable in four annual instalments of 25%. Since the IGOC 2026, however, resident foreigners whose investment is more than ten years old may transfer their investment income up to 2 million MAD per calendar year without this proof.

A CDC is opened with a Moroccan bank approved by Bank Al-Maghrib (Law 103-12), on the basis of:

• a complete KYC / AML-CFT (LBC-FT) file (Law 43-05 as amended by Law 12-18): passport, proof of residence abroad or residence permit, articles of association and RC extract for a legal entity
• proof of the origin of the funds: foreign currency transfer from abroad, sale of foreign banknotes, proceeds of an investment benefiting from convertibility
• the recording of the transaction by the bank using the forms and reports provided for by the IGOC

No minimum amount is required by the foreign exchange regulations. A non-resident may open the account through an agent holding a legalized power of attorney. The bank account of the company itself is governed by the rules described in our guide to opening a business bank account in Morocco.

Subject to the supporting documents provided for by the IGOC, the CDC allows in particular:

• paying up the capital of a Moroccan company or subscribing to a capital increase
• payment of expenses in Morocco (property purchase, running costs) and of services provided by non-residents
• collection of dividends and sale proceeds benefiting from convertibility
• free transfer of the balance abroad, without prior authorization

The CDC cannot be funded with dirhams of local origin (salaries, rents collected in Morocco), except for the proceeds of duly made investments.

The foreign currency account is a regime separate from the CDC: it is held in foreign currency, whereas the CDC is held in dirhams. It is open to non-residents and MRE, as well as to resident exporters of goods and services, who may hold 70% of their repatriated export receipts (85% for operators categorized by the Office des Changes) in a foreign currency account or in a CDC to pay their foreign currency expenses (imports, foreign service providers, business travel). These percentages are set by the IGOC and change over time; refer to the version in force. For exporters of services, the repatriation of foreign currency receipts is detailed in our guide on exporting services from Morocco, and the payments themselves follow the rules for paying a foreign supplier from Morocco.

The IGOC requires documentary traceability of every foreign exchange transaction: contracts, invoices, articles of association, minutes of the general meeting deciding on the distribution, certificate of payment of the withholding tax, certificate of sale of foreign currency (Formule 2). The domiciliary bank (banque domiciliataire) sends the reports to the Office des Changes within the time limits set by the regulations and requires the documents before executing a transfer.

Documents relating to foreign exchange transactions are kept for 10 years (Art. 211 CGI; Art. 22 of Law 9-88), without prejudice to the periods specific to the foreign exchange regulations, with the possibility of electronic archiving guaranteeing their integrity and evidential value.

Foreign neobanks (for example Wise, Revolut) do not hold a Bank Al-Maghrib approval allowing them to open a CDC or a foreign currency account in Morocco. A capital contribution passing through these services is not traced as a foreign investment in foreign currency: only a transfer received by a Moroccan bank, which issues the Formule 2, gives entitlement to convertibility.

Charikaty is a private Moroccan legal-tech platform specializing in online company formation. Here is what you need to invest via a CDC: an incorporated Moroccan company, an account opened with a bank approved by Bank Al-Maghrib and a foreign currency contribution documented by the Formule 2. With Charikaty, the company formation is done entirely online: Law 88-17 allows businesses to be created electronically, and you set up your company 100% online, even from abroad, with the articles of association signed by advanced electronic signature (Law 43-20). It is the simplest and fastest way to set up a company in Morocco as a non-resident, with our subsidiary formation service in Morocco.

Charikaty does not open bank accounts: you open the CDC and the company's account with the bank of your choice, using the articles of association and the Commercial Register extract that we provide you with, and we ensure that the foreign currency contribution is properly documented to preserve the transfer guarantee. More than 250 companies have already been set up with Charikaty.