Regulatory Alerts2003-01-01
Bank of Zambia Circular 20/2003 on Tariff Guides
The Bank of Zambia has directed all commercial banks to rectify non-compliance with the 1995 Banking and Financial Services Regulations regarding the mandatory disclosure of all deposit account service charges. Banks must revise their Tariff Guides to explicitly state either all applicable charges or confirm that undisclosed fees will be provided upon request or at the time of service. Affected institutions are required to implement these amendments immediately and submit copies of their updated guides to the central bank for verification.
r! l.l E:ci BANI( OIZAJ~~A OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR f'1 : ,: ~ -': November 17,2003 CB Circular No: 20/2003 ../ .. , L. To: All Commercial Banks f' i, TARIFF GUmES r. c', It has been observed that a number of commercial banks are not fully compliant with ~: the requirements of the Banking and Financial Services (Disclosure of Deposit Charges .and Interest) Regulations of 1995. Regulation 2( 1) of the Banking and Financial Services (Disclosure of Deposit Charges and Interest) Regulations of 1995 requires a bank to disclose to its customers and the public, by means of a written statement, all charges on deposit accounts for services rendered in respect of the deposit accounts. Furthermore, regulation 2(3) of the Banking and Financial Services (Disclosure of Deposit Charges and Interest) Regulations of 1995 provides that: "the written statement... ...may be in the form ofa tariff and shall indicate that ..-the statement;- ,... ;," (a) sets out all charges for services provided in respect of deposit accounts with the bank or I. .(b) does not set out all of the charges for services in respect of deposit ~ accounts with the bank and that charges for services not included l in the statement shall be disclosed on request or at the time the service is offered. II A review of the Tariff Guides from all the banks has however revealed irregularities with regard to the implementation of the requirements of regulation 2(3) as outlined above. r,. i ! l; f --~-~"""".,"- ~"---;"-~ "-~, ~.""--. ".co-Y ,-.,-' "._"-- Bank Square, Cairo Road P.O. Box 30080, Lusaka, Zambia Tel: +260-1-223307 Fax: +260-1- 237070 Email: cfundanga@boz.zrn Web: http://www.boz.zm/
~';.i -2- The Bank of Zambia is therefore directing all banks that are not fully compliant with regulation 2(3) of the Banking and Financial Services (Disclosure of Deposit Charges and Interest) Regulations of 1995 in particular and the Banking and Financial Services r:; (Disclosure of Deposit Charges and Interest) Regulations of 1995 in general to amend b; their Tariff Guides accordingly. All affected banks are required to fully comply with immediate effect and furnish the Bank of Zambia with a copy of their revised Tariff , Guide. t;;; ({Yij "./ , Denny H Kalyalya (Dr) f DEPUTY GOVERNOR -OPERATIONS l Cc Governor t.: i ~"'"' , , L f ' t.- f " i ~:: .,.. r': c Bank Square, Cairo Road, PO Box 30080, Lusaka 1010l,Zambia Tel:260-1-226844,Fax:260-1-237070,email dkalyaly@boz.zm ~