Added · Updated
The Commissioner of Financial Institutions in Lesotho has issued the 2018 Amendment Regulations to update the licensing and operational framework for credit-only and deposit-taking micro-finance institutions. The amendments establish tiered capital and liquidity thresholds, mandate structured boards with independent audit and credit committees, and enforce stricter consumer protection standards including ethical treatment and a 30-day complaint resolution period. Existing institutions must transition to the new tiered licensing system within six months and comply with comprehensive annual reporting requirements covering financial performance, capital adequacy, liquidity ratios, and deposit holder classifications.
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LESOTHO
Government Gazette
Vol. 63 Thursday – 31st May, 2018 No. 40 CONTENTS No. Page LEGAL NOTICES
43 Financial Institutions (Credit Only and Deposit .............................. 491
Taking Micro-Finance Institutions) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018
44 Local Government Service (Publication of...................................... 515
Members of the Tribunal) Notice, 2018 OTHER NOTICES (See Supplement of the Gazette) Published by the Authority of His Majesty the King Price: M22.00
LEGAL NOTICE NO. 43 OF 2018
Financial Institutions (Credit Only and Deposit Taking Micro-Finance Institutions) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018 In exercise of the powers conferred upon the Commissioner of Financial Institutions by section 27(1) read with section 71 of the Financial Institutions Act, 1 the Commissioner makes the following regulations - Citation and commencement
Business plan
6. Regulation 7(1) is amended by deleting “An” at the beginning of the
regulation and substituting “A tier one or tier two”.
7. Regulation 7(3) is amended by deleting “the” before applicant’s and substituting “a tier one and tier two micro-finance”.
Granting of a licence
8. Regulation 9(3) is repealed and substituted with the following regulation -
“A licence issued under subregulation (1) shall remain valid until revoked by the Commissioner as stipulated in the Act or surrendered by the licensee.”
9. Regulation 9(4) is repealed and substituted with the following regulation -
“A licensee shall pay an annual licence fee as stipulated in schedule IV.” Consumer rights
10. Regulation 11 is amended by inserting after subregulation (5) the following subregulations -
“(6) A licensee and its agents shall - (a) treat clients with ethical standards, honesty, fairness and respect; (b) ensure adequate safeguards to detect and correct corruption and abusive treatment by staff and agents; (c) ensure that its staff and agents who deal with clients do not retain identification documents of its borrowers during sales or collection processes; (d) not engage in false, misleading, or unethical advertising, sales practices or treatment of clients; and (e) not select or treat clients in a discriminatory way on the basis of personal characteristics or affiliations.
(7) A licensee shall -
(a) have fair and effective policies and procedures to inform clients on how they can complain to the licensee; (b) address the complaint contemplated in (a) within 30 calendar days and disclose to the client how they can contact the Central Bank of Lesotho for assistance in resolving a complaint if the client is not satisfied with the outcome of the internal complaint handling process.” General
11. Regulation 15(6) is amended by deleting “, at the request of a borrower,”.
Disclosure in credit agreements
12. Regulation 16 is amended by inserting “in a key facts section of the disclosure” before to the borrower.
Notices to customers
13. Regulation 23(1) is amended by inserting “30 days in advance” between
borrower, and in writing.
Minimum capital requirements
14. Regulation 36 is amended by inserting the following new subregulations
after subregulation (3) -
“(4) Tier one micro-finance licensee must maintain a minimum capital to total non-risk weighted assets of ten per cent. (5) The Commissioner may require individual tier one licensees to have additional capital buffers as needs dictate.” Minimum liquid assets
15. Regulation 37(1) is repealed and substituted with the following regulation -
“37(1) A tier one licensee shall not, at any time, have less than fifteen per cent of its total liabilities in liquid assets or such other percentage as may be determined by the commisioner.”
tion -
“A board of directors of a tier one micro-finance licensee shall appoint at least three of its members to form a credit committee, of whom at least two thirds shall not be employees of the licensee and a principal officer may be a member of the credit committee.” Insider lending
25. Regulation 48(1) is amended by inserting “tier one or tier two micro-finance” before financial.
Finance manager
26. Regulation 52(1) is amended by inserting “tier one and tier two microfinance” before licensee.
27. Regulation 52(1) is amended by inserting the following new subregulation after subregulation (1)(b) -
“(1A) A tier three micro-finance licensee shall have a finance function as in subregulation 52(1)(b).”
28. Regulation 52(2) is amended by inserting “are only required for tier one
and tier two licensees, and” before “shall”.
Risk management manuals and policies
29. Regulation 53 is repealed and substituted with the following
regulation -
“53. A tier one or tier two micro-finance licensees shall - (a) have a written risk management manuals and policies with regard to the screening, approval, monitoring and collection of loans which shall allow for sufficient flexibility to accommodate the special characteristics of the lending provided by the licensee, particularly its labourintensive nature, the likely use of alternative collateral and the possible use of a group lending approach; (b) establish a definition of non-performance that takes into account the particularity of its type of lending practice by the licensee taking into account, the number of days of non-performance, missed payments and times rescheduled and the licensee is also required to have established
policies and procedures to manage the workout of bad loans; (c) establish a procedure for measuring, monitoring and controlling market risk including foreign currency risk if the licensee is exposed to foreign currency on an ongoing basis; (d) have a cushion in the form of a reserve or liquidity ratio requiring the deposit taking institution to hold unencumbered liquid assets against a percentage of deposits and a limit on concentrations from a single funding source; and (e) have strong internal controls and audit procedures that include tools to detect weaknesses in the lending methodology and compensation policies, as well as to identify and reduce frauds.” Engagement of external auditor
30. Regulation 54(1) is repealed and substituted with the following -
“54. (1) A tier one or tier two micro-finance licensee shall have an external auditor, who shall not be a related party, to audit its accounts.” Filing of audited accounts and other information
31. Regulation 61 is repealed and substituted with the following
regulation -
“61. (1) Tier one and tier two micro-finance licensees shall annually file audited financial statements of assets and liabilities, income and expenses, together with the results of the operations and cash flow information for the period ended. (2) A tier three institution shall annually file with the Commissioner, accounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses for the period ended, and which have been prepared by an accountant. (3) A micro-finance licensee shall annually file with the Commissioner, details of the shareholders of the licensee including their names and addresses. (4) A tier one micro-finance licensee shall annually file with the Commissioner, the names of remuneration paid to the members of the
board of directors and the salary grid in use by the licensee. (5) A tier one micro-finance licensee shall annually file with the Commissioner, the number of deposit holders, their average savings and the total amount deposits held in the case of deposit taking microfinance services licensees. (6) A licensee that is part of a group shall file both solo and consolidated annual audited financial statements with the Commissioner within three months of the end of the financial year, unless prior approval for an extension has been granted by the Commissioner.” Prudential reports
32. Regulation 62(1) is repealed and substituted with the following regulation -
“62. (1) A licensee shall prepare and submit to the Commissioner, prudential reports in the form set out in schedule V of the Principal Regulations.” Transitional provision
33. Regulation 71 is repealed and substituted with the following
regulation -
“71. All licensed micro-finance institutions who were conducting a credit only or a deposit taking micro-finance on the date which these regulations become effective, shall within six months, apply for a new licence according to tiers in schedule VI and in accordance with these regulations.” Amendment of schedules
34. Schedules IV, V and VI to the Principal Regulations are repealed and
substituted with the following schedules -
“SCHEDULE IV
License Fees for Application to Conduct Credit Only or Deposit Taking Micro-finance institution (Regulation 9(1)) Business Investigation Registration Branch Financial License Annual Type Fee License Fee opening institutions fee Fee fee Agent licensing fees Tier Three M2,500.00 M2,000.00 M1,500.00 M2, 500.00 M2, 500.00 M2, 500.00 Microfinance Credit Only Tier Two M5,000.00 M5,000.00 M3,500.00 M3, 500.00 M5,000.00 M5,000.00 Microfinance Credit Only Tier One M15,000.00 M10,000.00 M7 500.00 M7 500.00 M15 000.00 M15,000.00 Microfinance Deposittaking
SCHEDULE V (a)
Credit Risk Return
This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by Tier 1 and 2 licensees only. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. Name of Credit Giving Institution:
Quarter ending:
Non- performing loans
Period No Balance Percent Provision Less than 30 days 10% 30 days but less 20% than 90 days 90 days but less 40% than 180 days 180 days but 60% less than 270 days 270 days but less 80% than 365 days 365 days and over 100% Total (1) Total loan balance outstanding excluding non-performing loans above:
1% of total loan balance (2):
Total provision required (1 +2):
Book Provision:
Opening balance as at M
Additional amounts provided during the quarter M Bad debts written off to the provision during the quarter M Closing balance as at M Bad debts written off and recovered:
Quarter ended Financial year to date Amount Number Amount Number Bad debts written directly M M to Income and Expenses Bad debts written off M M against provision Total bad debts written off MM Bad debts recovered MM
Loans restructured:
Report any loans where the terms and conditions have been formally changed such as extending the repayment period, reducing the repayments or reducing the interest rate:
Quarter ended Financial year to date Amount Number Amount Number Loans restructured Loans with a non-standard interest rate:M
SCHEDULE V(b)
Capital adequacy return
This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by tier 1 licensees only. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. Name of Credit Giving Institution:
Quarter ending:
Capital
Fully paid up share capital M
Debts where the rights of creditors are subordinated M Statutory Reserves M Other reserves M Unappropriated surplus M Surplus for the year to date M Total capital M Assets Balance Risk weighting Risk weighted assets Cash M 0% M Deposits with M 0% M CBL and government securities Deposits with M 20% M other Banks
Deposits with M 50% M other NBFIs Loans net of M 100% M any cash collateral held Office furniture, M 100% M fittings & equipment net of accumulated depreciation Real estate & M 100% M buildings All other assets M 100% M Total intangible assets: M This includes items such as computer software that has been developed for the institution and capitalized and formation expenses that have been capitalized and not yet fully amortized.
SCHEDULE V(c)
Liquidity return
This return is to be submitted monthly as at the last day of each month by tier 1 Licensees only. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. Name of Credit Giving Institution:
Quarter ending:
Asset Institution Amount
Notes and coins M
Government securities M with 90 days or less to maturity Deposits with Banks with 90 M days or less to maturity
M
Deposits with NBFIs with 90 M days or less to maturity M Total liquid fund M Total loans approved and due to be disbursed in the next 30 days: M Estimated payments to creditors in the next 30 days: M Total liquidity requirement (1+2): M Liquidity ratio (total liquid funds to liquidity requirements): %
SCHEDULE V(d)
Statement of Financial Performance This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by all tiers. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. (Amount in Loti) No. Description Other foreign Year to Loti Currencies Total in Loti date in into Loti Loti
1.0 Interest Income 0.00
1.1 Loan Income to 0.00
customers
1.2 Accounts with 0.00
banks and financial institutions
1.3 Securities and 0.00
Investments
1.4 Others 0.00
2.0 Interest Expenses 0.00
2.1 Customer deposits 0.00
2.2 Amounts owing to 0.00
banks and other financial institutions
2.3 Borrowings 0.00
2.4 Others 0.00
3.0 Net Interest 0.00
Income (3 = 1-2)
4.0 Non-Interest 0.00
Income (Net)
4.1 Commission 0.00
and fee expenses
4.2 Other non-interest 0.00
income
5.0 Foreign exchange 0.00
gain / (loss)
6.0 Other income 0.00
7.0 Operating Income 0.00
(3+4+5+6)
8.0 Staff expenses 0.00
9.0 Admin and 0.00
general expenses
10.0 Depreciation 0.00
11.0 Loan loss provision 0.00
12.0 Profit from operations 0.00
(12= 7-8-9-10-11)
13.0 Grant income 0.00
14.0 Adjustments 0.00
for subsidies
15.0 Profit before tax 0.00
(15=12+13+14)
16.0 Tax on profit 0.00
17.0 Net profit for 0.00
the period
(17=15 -16)
(Prepared by) (Checked by) (Approved by) Name Designation
SCHEDULE V(e)
Statement of Financial Position This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by all tiers. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. Assets Loti Rands Other Total in foreign Loti Currencies into Loti Currency - - Cash and Cash -- - Equivalent Cash in vault -- Deposits - - TRANSFERABLE - - DEPOSITS Transferable Deposits - - with Central Bank of Lesotho
Transferable Deposits - - with Banks Lesotho Transferable Deposits - - with Other Financial Institutions OTHER DEPOSITS -- Other Deposits with - - Central Bank of Lesotho Other Deposits with - - Banks Lesotho Other Deposits with - - Other Financial Institutions Debt Securities - - Marketable securities - & short-term I nvestments Loans - - Loans to Customers - - - Households - - Business - - Other Loans - - Total loans outstanding - Households - - Business - - Other Loans - - Less : Loan loss - reserve
A s s e t s
L o n g
L e s s a c c u m u l a t e d
O t h e r fi x e d a s s e t s a t c o s t L e s s :
a c c u m u l a t e d
C u s t o m e r
' s
D e p o s i t s
/
D e p o s i t s
S a v i n g d e p o s i t s
Demand deposits
Accrued Interest on
Transferable Deposits
Term deposits -
Other deposits -
Accrued Interest on - -
Other Deposits
Deposits from Banks - and Other Financial Institutions Banks -- Other Financial -- Institutions Other Payables - - Accounts Payable - Accrued Expenses - Debt Securities -- Long term Borrowing - -- Borrowings from - Financial Institutions Borrowings from - Non-financial institutions Deferred Grant - Income Suspense, Clearing - and Inter-branch Account Other Liabilities -
Total Liabilities - --
Equity Accounts - --
Paid up capital -
Premium on - share capital
Donated capital -
Hybrid capital - instruments
Reserves -
Retained earnings -
Year to date undi- - strubuted surplus Total Equity Total Liabilities And Equity Check Digit - Assets should equal Liabilities + Capital (Prepared (Checked (Approved by) by) by) Name Designation
SCHEDULE V(f)
Schedule of Deposit Holders
This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by tier 1 licensees only. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. Name of Institution:
For the year to date ending:
Aging Analysis of Depositors
Number of Depositors Amount Saved 3 Months 6 months 9 months 12 months Declaration:
As an authorized representative of............................................... I declare that all information filled in this report is accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. There has been no compromise of truthfulness or any code of professional conduct. Signature Date
SCHEDULE V(g)
Classification of Deposits by amount deposited This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by tier 1 licensees only. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. Name of Institution:
For the year to date ending:
Table 1
Amount Deposited Number of Deposits M1-M5,000 M5,001-M10,000 M10,001-M15,000 M15,001-M20,000 Above (Specify)
Table 2
Aggregate Number of Depositors Total Amount of Deposits Declaration:
As an authorized representative of ............................................. , I declare that all information filled in this report is accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. There has been no compromise of truthfulness or any code of professional conduct. Signature Date
SCHEDULE V(h)
Financial Inclusion Indicators This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by all tiers.The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. Access and Usage Indicators Number Amount/Value Branches 0.00 Loans/Borrowers 0.00 0.00 Households 0.00 0.00 of which Male of which Female Businesses 0.00 0.00 Micro (1-2 Employees) Small (3-9 Employees) Medium (10-49 Employees) Big/Large (50+ Employees) Loans/Borrowers by Economic Sectors 0.00 0.00 Agriculture Mining and Quarrying Manufacturing Transportation Construction Wholesale and retail trade Tourism (Hotels and Restaurants) Other services/sectors Loans/Borrowers by duration or repayment period 0.00 0.00 a. (1 month to 3 months) b. (4 months to 6 months)
c. (7 months to 12 months)
d. (1 year to 3 years) e. (4 years to 5 years) f. (5+ years) Additional Information on Loans 0.00 0.00 New loans (Disbursed during the reporting quarter) Loans Settled (During the reporting quarter) Past Due (In arreas) Loans by 30 Days Past Due (In arreas) Loans by +30 Days by less than 90 Days Non-Perfoming Loans +90 Days Loans written off Quality Indicators Highest Loan Amount Lowest Loan Amount Interest/cost of borrowing (in %) Time to complete a borrowing transaction (in Days) Total Number of Employees Number of complaints handled internally Complaints Number of complaints referred to the Central Bank of Lesotho Number of loans/Number of Loan Officers Over- Maximum debt to income ratio for borrowers indebtedness Non-performing loans/Total Loans Appropriate Maximum Loan Interest Rate Pricing Commission and Fee Income/Gross Income Client Growth Total Number of Active Clients
SCHEDULE V(i)
Top Ten Borrowers and Depositors This return is to be completed as at the following dates: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December by all tiers. The return must be signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer and returned to the Director of Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho within 10 days of the date to which it relates. 10 Largest Loans Number Borrower's Original Amount Performing Number % Name Loan Outstan- per of times Outstanding Amount ding Agreement? rescheduled vs. Total Yes/No Loans TOTAL M 0.00 M 0.00 0.0% 10 Largest Depositors Name of Amount of Amount of Total Savings, % of Depositor Combined Fixed Deposit(s) Shares & Total Savings Fixed Deposits & Shares M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00
M 0.00
TOTAL M 0.00 M 0.00 M 0.00
SCHEDULE VI
Schedule VI – Definition of Tiers 1, 2 and 3 and the related requirements.
Criteria Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Type Deposit-taking Credit-only Has issued Credit-only – Loans a debt instrument on a public exchange, OR Has 10 million Loti or more in assets. Licensed Licensed License materials License materials prepared by licensee. prepared by licensee. one time licensing one time licensing One time licensing. Funding Equity, Debt, Deposits Has issued debt on a Equity. No debt public exchange, can be issued. Or Equity CBL Reporting Yes (Quarterly - Yes (Quarterly - Quarterly advanced) advanced) Board Yes Yes No Finance function Yes – could be outsourced Business plan Yes Yes No Audit function Yes Yes No Compliance Yes Yes yes may outsource function External audit Yes Yes Submission of finacial statement prepared by certified accountant
C r e d i t b u r e a u
Ye s
Ye s
Ye s r e p o r t i n g
C o d e o f c o n d u c t
Ye s
Ye s
Ye s
( i n d u s t r y s t a n d a r d , c o m p l a i n t m a n a - g e m e n t s y s t e m ) P r u d e n t i a l M i n i m a l c a p i t a l Ye s N o N o C a p i t a l a d e q u a c y Ye s N o N o L i q u i d i t y Ye s N o N o L L P Ye s N o N o R i s k Ye s N o N o c o n c e n t r a t i o n I n s i d e r l e n d i n g Ye s N o N o F i n a n c i a l C o n s u m e r P r o t e c t i o n S a l e s p r a c t i c e s Ye s Ye s Ye s & d i s c l o s u r e C u s t o m e r Ye s Ye s y e s a c c o u n t h a n d l i n g a n d m a i n t e n a n c e P r i v a c y a n d Ye s Ye s Ye s d a t a p r o t e c t i o n D i s p u t e Ye s Ye s Ye s r e s o l u t i o n I n t e r e s t r a t e c a p N o N o N o
DATED:
DR. RET◊ELISITSOE MATLANYANE
GOVERNOR OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF LESOTHO NOTE
Printed by the Government Printer, P.O. Box 268, Maseru 100 Lesotho
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