Regulatory Alerts2018-08-26
A circular dated August 16, 2018 regarding the definition of companies and establishments owned or managed by women
In August 2018, the Central Bank of Egypt launched an initiative to improve financial inclusion for women-owned or managed small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The bank aimed at creating a comprehensive database comprised of smaller, medium and female owned/managed businesses categorized by their type. To achieve this, it issued a definition for companies owned or managed by women or which operate with the involvement of women, considering the existing Central Bank of Egypt definition for SMEs, as well as implementing the following objectives: 1. Establishing statistical and detailed data on the number of female-owned/managed businesses to allow better monitoring and support; 2. Amending bank account data rules in relation to guarantee companies by updating their regulations periodically for: - Guarantee Companies: The update will occur during their annual review. - Loan and other accounts: Updates will be done up to a maximum of five years. 3. Defining customer data guidelines for banks in accordance with the anti-money laundering regulations issued on April 14, 2011. This should be applied uniformly across all businesses regardless of their size. The Central Bank of Egypt is now urging all banks to comply with these new requirements and definitions for female-owned/managed enterprises or companies."