Financial Institutions (Bank Charges and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2018

[26th February 2018] Supplement to Official Gazette 35

S.I. 12 of 2018
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ACT
(Cap 79)
Financial Institutions (Bank Charges and Fees) 
(Amendment) Regulations, 2018

In the exercise of the powers conferred by section 69(c) of 
the Financial Institutions Act, the Central Bank of Seychelles
makes the following Regulations —

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Financial 
Institutions (Bank Charges and Fees) (Amendment) 
Regulations, 2018 and shall come into operation on 1st April, 
2018.

Citation and
commencement

2. The Financial Institutions (Bank Charges and Fees) 
Regulations are hereby amended as follows—

Amendment of
S.I. 11 of 2013

(a) in regulation 2 —
(i) by repealing the definition of “first home 
buyers” and substituting therefor the following definitions —
“‘first home acquirer’ means a citizen of 
the Seychelles who acquires a home for 
the first time either by way of purchase or 
by inheritance individually or jointly for 
his or her own residential purpose;
“‘joint personal account’ means an 
account held by two or more persons in 
their personal names but not used as their 
business account;

36 Supplement to Official Gazette [26th February 2018]

(ii) by inserting after the definition of “loan 
amortisation schedule” the following 
definition —
“‘personal account’ means an account held 
by a person in his or her personal name 
and that is not used as his or her business 
account.

(b) by repealing regulation 3 and substituting 
therefor the following regulation —
“3.(1) Where a Bank —
(i) has not launched a website, the 
bank shall provide to the Central Bank the schedule of 
charges and fees for services for each quarter and publish 
the same in a daily newspaper during the period specified in 
the First Schedule;
(ii) has launched a website, the bank shall as specified in the Second Schedule —
(a) provide to the Central Bank the Schedule of charges and fees for services; and 
(b) upload a complete schedule of charges and fees for services on its website bi-annually.

(2) A bank shall publish in a daily newspaper any changes in the schedule of

[26th February 2018] Supplement to Official Gazette 37
charges and fees for services at least 15 days 
prior to its implementation.

(3) A bank shall notify the Central Bank of any changes in the schedule of charges and fees for services at least 15 days prior to publication in the daily newspaper.

(4) A bank shall provide an updated schedule of charges and fees for services to the public through leaflets or by any other legible means.”;

(c) in regulation 4(1)—
(i) by repealing paragraph (a) and substituting therefor the following paragraph —
“(a) prepayment of a loan that is issued in Seychelles Rupees;”

(ii) by repealing paragraphs (f) and (g) and substituting therefor the following paragraphs —
“(f) transfer of funds by a customer between personal or joint personal accounts held by that customer in his or her own name with the bank;
(g) electronic statements of savings account and loan account;”

(iii) by inserting in paragraph (j) after the words “Debit Card” the words “issued by a bank in Seychelles”;

38 Supplement to Official Gazette [26th February 2018]

(d) by repealing regulation 4(2) and substituting therefor the following subregulations —
“(2) (a) There shall be a processing fee of—
(i) SCR2500 on housing loan of SCR1.5 million or below;
(ii) SCR2500 for the first SCR1.5 million and 0.5 percent of the remaining amount of the loan where the loan amount exceeds SCR1.5 million;
(b) A first home acquirer shall not be liable for any other charges and fees for services during the application and disbursement of their housing loans.
(3) (a) A Bank shall provide bi-annually a physical statement to a savings account holder covering the transactions and balance outstanding for a period of at least 6 months free of charges and fees;
(b) A Bank may charge a reasonable fee for physical statements on additional requests made by an account holder of a saving account for statements covering the same period for which a physical statement has already been provided;”

(e) by inserting after regulation 5 the following regulation and Schedules—

[26th February 2018] Supplement to Official Gazette 39

Ceiling on penal interest
“6. A bank shall not impose a penal interest of more than 5 percent per annum and the penal interest shall be calculated only on the default installment on any loan and the interest payable thereon shall not be taken into account for calculating the penal interest.

FIRST SCHEDULE
[Regulation 3 (1) (i)]
Submission and Publication Schedule of Charges and Fees for Services

| Quarter | Date to submit to the Central Bank | Publication in the daily newspaper |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1 | Before December 1st | Before December 31st |
| 2 | Before March 1st | Before March 31st |
| 3 | Before June 1st | Before June 30th |
| 4 | Before September 1st | Before September 30th |

40 Supplement to Official Gazette [26th February 2018]

SECOND SCHEDULE
[Regulation 3(1) (ii)]
Submission and Publication Schedule of Charges and Fees for Services

| Period | Date to submit to the Central Bank | Date for uploading on Website and publication in newspaper |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| January 1st - June 30th | Before December 1st | Before December 31st |
| July 1st - December 31st | Before June 1st | Before June 30th |

MADE this 20th day of February, 2018.

CAROLINE ABEL
GOVERNOR
CENTRAL BANK OF SEYCHELLES