Revised Banking Act won’t be ready for public debate before 4Q2018

LEGISLATION WATCH- A revised Banking Act won’t be ready for public discussion before 4Q2018: The central bank will not be ready to present its long-planned overhaul of the bill to the Madbouly Cabinet until 4Q2018, a source familiar with the matter said. CBE Governor Tarek Amer had said back in May that the law would be ready to present to the government by 1 June. The delay comes as the CBE is still engaged in consultations with international institutions to help shape the law, according to reports in the domestic press. The final draft of the act will be much more expansive than the first draft of the law that came out last year and caused a stir in the banking sector. Industry players objected at the time to term limits for bank MDs, a proposed tithe on industry profits to endow an industry development fund, and provisions that would give the central bank more power to get involved in each bank’s daily affairs.