Number of international banks have showed interest to obtain new licences to open branches in the Egyptian market, Gamal Negm, Deputy Governor. Negm made these comments during the Chief Risk Officers in Arab Banks Forum, taking in Alexandria on Saturday under the theme of The Road to Basel 4. He added that CBE has already received requests, referring that Egypt is welcoming to new institutions that would add to the sector and encourage new financial technology. The CBE has lately approved to reopen the door for the international banks to apply for licences to work in the Egyptian market. The Egyptian Banking sector includes about 38 banks under the supervision of the Central Bank. The nationalities of the banks vary among Egyptian and regional banks (Gulf and Arab), European and American. The regional banks hold the largest number of existing banks, and the UAE leads them with five banks in Egypt. On the other hand, The Chief Risk Officers (CROs) in Arab Banks Forum, to be held by the Union of Arab Banks, is a platform to keep up with the expectations and orientations of many concerned international organizations and Regulatory and Supervisory authorities, notably the Basel committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), especially after it published in December 2017 the final document that included a set of reform revisions to the standardized approaches for measuring and managing credit and operational risks, and which is considered as a final revision to Basel III, paving the way for what is expected to be called Basel IV.
