Region

Jurisdiction

Regulator

2022-09-19

Instruction No. 197 on the Procedure for Regulating the Activities of Microcredit Organizations

The National Bank of Tajikistan issued Instruction No. 197 to establish the regulatory framework for microcredit organizations, defining core terms such as credit and microcredit with maximum limits of 250,000 somoni for individuals and 400,000 somoni for legal entities. The regulation mandates a minimum authorized capital of 4 million somoni, outlines strict licensing procedures including account funding and duplicate issuance, and requires comprehensive accounting, internal/external audits, and transparent reorganization processes. It further specifies the documentation requirements for reorganization, conditions for license withdrawal or refusal, and aligns liquidation procedures with Tajikistan’s credit organization laws.

Tajikistan

National Bank of Tajikistan

«Registered» by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan No. 137 “d” dated November 9, 2012 «Approved» by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Tajikistan No. 194 dated August 30, 2012 «Registered» by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan No. 137 “e” dated June 26, 2015 «Approved» by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Tajikistan No. 104 dated May 28, 2015

Instruction No. 197 «On the Procedure for Regulating the Activities of Microcredit Organizations»

The Instruction «On the Procedure for Regulating the Activities of Microcredit Organizations» (hereinafter - the Instruction) is developed in accordance with Article 23 of the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan «On Microfinance Organizations» and establishes the procedure for regulating the activities of microcredit organizations.

GENERAL PROVISIONS
The following basic terms are used in this Instruction:

credit - monetary funds provided by a microcredit organization to a borrower (individuals and legal entities) for a specified period, subject to the payment of interest and repayment;
microcredit – credit provided by a microcredit organization to a borrower for a specified period on the terms of interest payment and repayment, the maximum amount of which for individuals does not exceed 250,000 (two hundred fifty thousand) somoni, and for legal entities 400,000 (four hundred thousand) somoni;
interest rate of credit – the total amount expressed as a percentage of the loan amount, which the borrower pays for its use calculated over a specific period (month, quarter, year).

For newly established microcredit organizations, the minimum size of authorized capital is set at 4,000,000 (four million) somoni.
For existing microcredit organizations, the minimum size of real capital is determined as follows:

as of 01.10.2015 - 2,000,000 (two million) somoni;
as of 01.01.2016 – 3,000,000 (three million) somoni;
as of 01.04.2016 - 4,000,000 (four million) somoni.

LICENSING OF MICROCREDIT ORGANIZATIONS
The procedure for issuing, withdrawing and canceling the license of a microcredit organization is carried out in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Microfinance Organizations”.
Prior to obtaining a license, a microcredit organization is obliged to pay 100 percent of the authorized capital amount to the corresponding account opened in the National Bank of Tajikistan. The National Bank of Tajikistan, within 3 working days after making a decision to issue the license, sends information about the account details to the microcredit organization.
In case of loss of a license by a microcredit organization, a copy (duplicate) of the license is issued to it.
A microcredit organization is obliged, within 3 days, to notify the National Bank of Tajikistan about the loss of the license and publish an announcement in one of the official publications regarding the invalidity of the lost license.
To obtain a copy (duplicate) of the license, a microcredit organization submits to the National Bank of Tajikistan an application with a copy of the announcement in the official publication.
A copy (duplicate) of the license is issued to a microcredit organization within 30 days after receiving the application, based on an order of the Chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan.
PROVISION OF MICROCREDIT
The procedure for providing microcredit to clients of a microcredit organization is established by the regulatory legal acts of the National Bank of Tajikistan.
The interest rate of credit is established in the contract with the client.
ACCOUNTING RULES, INSPECTION AND AUDIT
A microcredit organization maintains accounting records and prepares financial reporting in the manner established by the National Bank of Tajikistan.
The list, form and deadlines for submitting accounting and other reporting by a microcredit organization, as well as liability for their violation, are established by the regulatory legal acts of the National Bank of Tajikistan.
The National Bank of Tajikistan conducts inspections of the activities of a microcredit organization at its location and outside its location.
Internal control of a microcredit organization is conducted through internal audit, which must ensure an adequate level of reliability corresponding to the features and scale of operations conducted by the microcredit organization.
The activities of a microcredit organization are subject to annual external audit.
REORGANIZATION AND LIQUIDATION OF A MICROCREDIT ORGANIZATION
Reorganization (merger, accession, division, separation, transformation) of a microcredit organization is carried out after obtaining the consent of the National Bank of Tajikistan in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
A microcredit organization, for the purpose of reorganization, applies to the National Bank of Tajikistan with an application and submits the following documents:

a resolution of the general meeting of shareholders (participants) on reorganization;
information about management personnel indicating surname, first name, patronymic, citizenship, permanent place of residence, specialty, education and work experience;
a copy of the certificate of state registration of new shareholders (participants) – for legal entities;
information on the taxpayer identification number – for individuals (new shareholders (participants);
a copy of the financial report of new shareholders (participants) – legal entities for the last year with an audit opinion;
a certificate from the authorized body on the fulfillment of obligations to the state budget by new shareholders (participants) for the last year of operations;
a certificate on the legality of the source of origin of monetary funds of new shareholders (participants) contributed to the authorized capital – for individuals, in the manner established by law;
a list of shareholders (participants) and ultimate beneficial owners of shares (stakes) indicating their address and number of shares (stakes);
a work plan specifying goals and types of activities, description of the organizational structure and internal control system, forecast of the balance sheet report, income and expenses and cash flows for the next three years of operations.

The National Bank of Tajikistan, within 1 month, considers the petition of a microcredit organization for reorganization and makes an appropriate decision.
A decision on granting consent to the reorganization of a microcredit organization is made by the Board of the National Bank of Tajikistan.
Consent to the reorganization of a microcredit organization is not granted in the following cases:

if the microcredit organization has signs of bankruptcy;
if a decision on liquidation has been made regarding the microcredit organization;
if the reorganization of a microcredit organization leads to the emergence of risks.

Liquidation of a microcredit organization is carried out in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan «On Liquidation of Credit Organizations».