Cairo on: 7 April 2020
To: The Chairman / Board of Directors
Greetings,

I would like to refer to the circular dated 19 May 2005 attached with the decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt issued on 26 April 2005 regarding "The Rules Regulating the Credit Registration System at the Central Bank", and also the circular dated 1 January 2012 attached with the Board of Directors' decision issued on 2 January 2012 regarding "Amending the Rules Regulating the Credit Registration System at the Central Bank of Egypt, specifically regarding non-compliant customers, including instructions for listing individuals in negative lists, and the basis for dealing with such customers".

In the context of keeping pace with developments in the banking sector, especially the current trend to support non-compliant customers in repayment through issuing several initiatives in the previous period, with the aim of helping these customers reintegrate into the banking sector and contributing to economic growth, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt, in its meeting held on 5 April 2020, decided to amend some of the rules regulating the credit registration system at the Central Bank as attached.

Please be informed to notify the implementation of the aforementioned decision from its date, and to cleanse current databases of cases that do not comply with the new instructions, thereby enabling accurate and clear data on non-compliant customers to be reviewed by banks, leaving the freedom of dealing with these categories according to the selective approach prepared by each bank.

Please accept our highest respect and appreciation, Tarek Amer

The Central Bank of Egypt - Board of Directors Secretariat

Issued No.: 7 / B / 2020
Date: 5 April 2020
Decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt No. 702 / 2020 in its meeting held on 5 April 2020 regarding amending some of the rules regulating the credit registration system at the Central Bank of Egypt.

(First) Amending some provisions of the decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt issued in the session of 26 April 2005 regarding the rules regulating the credit registration system at the Central Bank of Egypt, as follows:

1. Regarding the rules and procedures for sending data (Monthly Report) on customer credit centers benefiting from financing or credit facilities; the following text is substituted:
   "The report shall be issued for each customer provided with financing or credit facilities exceeding one hundred thousand pounds, whether natural or legal persons."

2. Clause (Eighth) of the decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt issued in the session of 26 April 2005 mentioned above is repealed;
   Regarding negative lists for customers benefiting from loans for agricultural purposes.

3. The provisions of the decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt issued in the session of 26 April 2005 mentioned above and the subsequent circulars shall continue to apply in matters not specifically addressed in this decision.

(Second) The rules regulating the credit registration system at the Central Bank of Egypt related to the category of non-compliant customers in repayment and the basis for dealing with them, issued by the decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt No. 2012/104 in the session of 3 January 2012, are replaced by the attached rules.

The Central Bank of Egypt - Board of Directors Secretariat

Rules Regulating the Credit Registration System at the Central Bank of Egypt regarding the category of non-compliant customers in repayment and the basis for dealing with them.

(Article One) Non-compliant customers from institutions

Customers defined herein as non-compliant customers from institutions are those defined according to the rules of financing balance registration.

And the financial institutions included are banks operating in the Arab Republic of Egypt, financial leasing companies, and real estate financing companies at the Central Bank.

And non-compliant customers are classified according to the creditworthiness assessment rules and provisioning issued by the Central Bank of Egypt, according to the definitions stated in the Board of Directors' decision dated 26 April 2005, as follows:

First: Categories of non-compliant customers in repayment

(1) Customers whose debts were not settled without discharge of liability.

(2)

(3) Customers with legal procedures filed by the creditor bank, including filing lawsuits / filing misdemeanors / referral to the prosecution / requesting issuance of a precautionary seizure order or performance order / recording a notice of seizure.

(4) Customers with legal procedures filed by external parties, including placing assets under guardianship / prohibiting disposal / seizing assets / issuing court judgments for liquidation of business / issuing judgments declaring bankruptcy.

(5) Settlement customers, where settlement means the bank - in the context of restructuring the credit granted to the non-compliant customer - negotiating with its customer and signing an agreement that includes waiving a portion of the bank's dues including returns and commissions due, and/or reducing the interest rate in the future after settlement to be lower than the financing and discount rate.

(6) Customers subject to amicable liquidation of their business resulting in losses for creditor banks.

(7) Customers subject to amicable liquidation of their business not resulting in losses for creditor banks.

(8) Restructuring customers, where restructuring means the bank - in the context of restructuring the credit granted to the non-compliant customer, especially one facing circumstances beyond his control affecting his ability to meet obligations on specified dates - negotiating with its customer and signing an agreement modifying the terms of the granted credit without waiving any dues of the bank at restructuring, and the interest rate in the future after restructuring shall not be less than the financing and discount rate.

(9) Compromise lawsuit customers protected from bankruptcy - with the consent of creditors - after court approval of the compromise, where creditor banks may have reached settlement or restructuring agreements with them.

Banks are required to review their customers' data sent to the Central Bank of Egypt to conform to the nine categories mentioned above, and to comply with the following:
(1) Separating data of restructuring customers from settlement customers, and reporting for each customer according to their status based on the definition for both restructuring and settlement.

(2) Specifying the type and size of the credit subject to restructuring and the number of restructuring instances.

(3) Specifying the type and size of the credit subject to non-settlement without discharge of liability.

(4) Reporting, on the date the customer settles all obligations according to the settlement agreement, the amount of dues waived to the customer and its percentage of total dues before settlement.

Second: Basis for dealing with these customers before repayment:

The listing and activation of dealing freedom with customers from categories (1) to (6) is done, and the ban on dealing with them is lifted while continuing to classify them within the categories mentioned above.

Regarding the rules for the Central Bank of Egypt to disclose data regarding non-compliant customers in repayment:
The Central Bank of Egypt makes data of the listed categories available for review, and these data remain in the system before completing repayment, and historical information is provided after repayment showing the customers' previous repayment behavior for the purpose of studying the customer's creditworthiness, as follows:
(1) For a period of one year in cases:
a. Repayment within the framework of settlement. b. Repayment within the framework of amicable liquidation of the customer's business resulting in losses for creditor banks.
c. The customer who reached a compromise with the bank/creditor banks and completed repayment of this bank's/banks' rights according to the conditions of the compromise stipulated between them and the Central Bank and the Financial Regulatory Authority.

(2) For a period of six months in cases:
a. Repayment within the framework of amicable liquidation of the customer's business not resulting in losses for creditor banks. b. Repayment within the framework of restructuring.
c. The customer who reached a compromise with the bank/creditor banks and completed repayment of all dues of this bank/banks according to the provisions of the Central Bank, Banking and Monetary Authority Law.

Fourth: The same rules stipulated in clauses (First) and (Second) of this Article apply to medium, small, and micro enterprises; according to the size of business (sales) and revenues reported by banks to the Egyptian Company for Credit Information, specifically regarding the disclosure periods after completing repayment.

Fifth: Historical information is deleted regarding non-compliant customers from institutions currently listed in the aforementioned categories upon expiration of the periods stipulated in clause (Third) of this Article.

(Article Two) Non-compliant customers from individuals - Cleansing databases of non-compliant customers:

Each bank must review all customer data classified by it as non-compliant customers, emphasizing the inclusion of customers whose outstanding balances include expenses and dues owed to any funds from the creditor bank or whose names were mistakenly listed by banks.

Also, as an exceptional and one-time measure, customers with debts less than one thousand pounds are deleted.

Third: Rules for classifying individual customers "non-compliant customers":

(1) Notifying customers with arrears before classifying them as "non-compliant customers" by registered letter with proof of receipt one month prior to listing.

(2) Prohibiting the use of credit cards, and thus not deducting issuance/renewal fees and commissions from customer accounts, except after completing the following:

• For issuance: A request for card issuance signed by the customer, or their legal representative, confirming their acceptance of the card and request for activation.
• For renewal: A request signed by the customer, or their legal representative, confirming receipt of the card and request for activation.

(3) Increasing customer awareness by banks regarding the categories of non-compliant customers and including them in loan application conditions or card issuance conditions and displaying them clearly.

(4) Necessity of paying attention to the accuracy of information sent by banks to the Central Bank of Egypt and the Egyptian Company for Credit Information regarding non-compliant customer data.

(5) Analyzing individual customer data into the following seven categories:
(i) Customers whose debts were not settled without discharge of liability.
(ii) Customers stopped from repayment after the grace period.
And it is required in categories (i) and (ii) that the customer has stopped repayment for more than 180 consecutive days after the stipulated grace period or the disbursement date, as applicable, and they must be notified by a registered letter with proof of receipt one month prior to listing. (iii) Customers with legal procedures filed by the creditor bank. (iv) Customers with legal procedures filed by external parties. (v) Settlement customers. (vi) Restructuring customers. (vii) Customers with outstanding obligations.

(6) The absolute ban on dealing with non-compliant customers from categories (i) and (ii) is applied, and the conditional ban is lifted and dealing freedom is activated with non-compliant customers from categories (iii), (iv), and (v), while continuing to classify them within the categories mentioned above.

(7) The Egyptian Company for Credit Information is required to make data of the listed categories (from a to z) available for review, and these data remain in the company's system before completing repayment, and the company keeps historical information after repayment showing the customers' previous repayment behavior without applying the ban on dealing with them, for the following periods:
a. A period of six months in the case of repayment within the framework of restructuring and for customers with outstanding arrears. b. A period of one year in the case of repayment within the framework of settlement.

(8) Historical information is deleted regarding (individual) customers currently listed in the aforementioned categories upon expiration of these periods.

(Article Three)

These rules do not apply to customers benefiting from the initiatives issued by the Central Bank on 12 December 2019 regarding non-compliant customers from legal persons with debts less than 10 (ten million) pounds, and subsequent circulars, and those issued on 16 March 2020 regarding non-compliant customers from natural persons with debts less than one million pounds.

(Article Four)

The provisions of these rules apply to customers benefiting from the Central Bank's initiative issued on 8 January 2020 regarding non-compliant customers from legal persons working in the tourism sector with debts of 10 million pounds or more, specifically regarding the period of making historical information available after completing repayment to disclose them as initiative customers for a period of one year (instead of two years).

(Article Five)

These rules are considered effective from their date; and banks must regularize their status and cleanse databases according to its provisions within three months from the date of its implementation, during which banks continue to record the classification categories for non-compliant customers with debts less than one hundred thousand pounds to the Central Bank to aggregate banking risks.

Upon expiration of that period, the reporting of these customers to the Egyptian Company for Credit Information - Score - is considered complete.

M. Abu El-Naga
Secretary of the Board of Directors