Exchange control, in one form or another, can be traced back for many centuries. For example, as early as 1299 there were restrictions on the import and export of currency into and out of England. This article, however, is concerned with more recent history - the developments in exchange control during the last thirty years. It falls broadly into four parts. The first deals with the legal and administrative basis on which the control rests; and the second with the introduction of control during the 1939-45 War. The third section is concerned with the subsequent approach to convertibility, which resulted in non-resident holdings of sterling being freely convertible after 1958 and culminated in the United Kingdom's acceptance, in February 1961, of the obligations of Article VIII of the International Monetary Fund Agreement - marking essentially the removal of all exchange control restrictions on current transactions by U.K. residents. Finally, there is a review of developments after 1961.
The UK exchange control a short history