Central Bank of Egypt drafts new bank law

Role of the board of directors and rules of supervision among factors needing reform, says official statement

The Central Bank is drafting a new banking law, it announced in a press release on Wednesday.
The Board of Directors for the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will launch a global study to modify the bank's law issued in 2003. The decision aims to "modernize the law in the light of shortcomings that appeared in its application during the last years", the statement reads.
Farouq Al-Oqda, CBE governor, said the amendments will cover three main areas. The first one is the governance of banks, particularly public ones.
"The role of the board of directors of the bank should be defined in a better way," said Al-Oqda in the press release. It's especially important, he says, when it comes to the Central Bank.
The second area involves defaulting, with the bank saying procedures will be accelerated that allow banks to recover funds in order "to protect depositers money".
The third change will reinfoce the rules of CBE supervision over other banks.
The CBE chairman promised that a wide consultation with banks and experts will take place before the drafting of the amendment via an action group headed by Ziyad Bahaa Eddine, the former chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority.
The bill is be finalised within four months.