President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has ratified amendments to the Consumer Finance Act, adding three new articles that are designed to offer consumer and SME borrowers and lenders better protection against fraud, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday. Under the amendments, borrowers who fraudulently obtain finance or fail to meet the terms of a financing agreement will be met with fines as much as double the amount borrowed, and / or jail time. The amendments also ban third parties from acting as mediators or paid sponsors between lenders, and SME and consumer borrowers without first registering with the Financial Regulatory Authority, with penalties of jail time and / or a fine of EGP 50-500k.

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