FIM Bill consultations in final round – NAMFISA

The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) is currently conducting the final round of consultations with the industry on the drafted Financial Institutions and Market (FIM) Bill before it can be made public.
“Drafting has been completed. We are now busy with the final rounds of consultations before it goes through the promulgation process,” said Isack Hamata, Corporate Communications Manager at Namfisa.
The promulgation of the FIM Bill will play a major role in the deepening and development of financial markets. The flexibility that industries will have, hopefully will lead to greater innovation in competitive financial products and services to the benefit of both consumers and the  financial institutions themselves, he explained. He said that the Bill places fiduciary responsibility in the laps of the Board of Trustees and management teams of regulated entities. [These are the individuals} responsible to uphold corporate governance.
The Bill seeks to establish a holistic, integrated platform for regulation of financial institutions. At the same time the Bill harmonises and consolidates the regulatory requirements as set out in the different financial services laws. Alluding to a level playing field for banks, Hamata said the different laws administered by NAMFISA will be repealed and provisions related to different financial services sectors have been incorporated in the Bill. “The Bill aims to ensure consumer protection, financial system stability and promote public and investor confidence in the financial system,” said Hamata.
According to Hamata, the Bill is an effort to consolidate all the laws pertaining to financial regulation and to address the needs of today. He further said the main reasons for the legislative reform process are because current laws are outdated with some dating back to the 1950s and 60s as well as fragmented and inconsistent.
“Limited mandate (no consumer protection, financial stability). enforcement difficulty due to low penalties and enforcement procedures as well as limited powers to act against non compliance and intrusion, make these laws irrelevant to socio-economic imperatives of Namibia today,” he added.