CAIRO: Three major supervisory authorities were merged into one new General Authority for Financial Supervision (GAFS), Minister of Finance Mahmoud Mohieldin minister of Finance announced Sunday in a conference. On July 1, GAFS will start its work, assuming the supervisory mission of the three bodies that formed it: The Capital Market Authority (CMA), the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority and the Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA). GAFS aims to coordinate, unify and standardize the regulatory process of the non-banking division of the financial sector. It also aims to "better utilize the managerial and financial resources [of the three authorities], said Mohieldin during the inaugural conference, which was attended by distinguished financiers, bankers, regulators and media. GAFS will work under and through law number 192 of 2009, which was approved by President Hosni Mubarak last June. It will be fully financially independent, and its board's decision won't need the endorsement of any governmental body to be effective. Ziad Bahaa El-Din, the former Chairman of General Authority for Free Zones and Investments (GAFI), will head GAFS. The merger of the three authorities into on is two-fold: one that the public will experience when applying for services for instance and the another that will take place internally to fortify the merger. The first GAFS board meeting will be in the first week of July, but its agenda "may be not announced to Media, said Bahaa El Din. GAFS 's Board of Directors, which has a term of four years, comprises of Hesham Ramez, vice-governor of the Central Bank; Osama Saleh, chairman of the Mortgage Finance Authority; Abdel-Hamid Ibrahim, senior advisor to Minister of Investment for financial affairs; Maged Othman, head of Information and Decision Support Center; Mohamed Abdel-Raouf Asaad, advisor to Minister of Finance; and Counselor Mohamed El-Dakroury, member of parliament and general counsel to the Board of Directors of Capital Market Authority. During the conference, Mohieldin also outlined the second phase of Egypt's financial reform, which includes promoting and encouraging saving culture and directing it to the right means of investments. "We shouldn't forget the main concept of the financial process, which is mobilizing saving and directing it to the best ways of investment, which will reflect on the society, said Mohieldin. The second phase also aims to provide and facilitate financial channels to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt. In addition the second phase will work to enhance the market performance and develop new financial non-banking services. "Our work will be between two Es, said Mohieldin, "Efficiently of the market and effectiveness of regulations, said Mohieldin.
