§ 8.01-465.18.Determining amount of the money of certain contract claims.

Some contracts do not just promise payment in a foreign money — they measure that payment by reference to yet another currency, or fix an exchange rate that only holds until something goes wrong. This section handles both wrinkles. When an amount contracted to be paid in a foreign money is measured by a specified amount of a different money, the amount to be paid is determined on the conversion date.

When a contract instead uses the exchange rate prevailing on a date before default, that rate applies only to payments made within a reasonable time after default — capped at thirty days. After that window closes, conversion switches to the bank-offered spot rate on the conversion date, so a debtor cannot lock in a stale, favorable pre-default rate indefinitely by delaying payment.

The section also heads off a usury argument. An agreement is not usurious or unconscionable merely because it requires the debtor's payment, once converted and received, to equal a specified amount of the creditor's foreign money. But if unexcused delay causes the creditor to receive less than that specified foreign-money amount, the court or arbitrator must amend the judgment or award to close the gap.