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Tuesday, 15 February 2022

El Sisi signs fintech and unified budget acts into law

Fintech Bros, pay attention here: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has ratified the Fintech Act, which regulates robo-advisory, nano-finance, insurtech, and (tech-enabled) consumer finance, among other sectors. The law makes the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) the only entity in charge of licensing and regulating fintech companies. It also sets transparency and governance standards and protects consumer rights. The bill was also passed by the House in January, about a year and a half after it was first drafted by the FRA.

The president also signed off on the Unified Budget Act, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette (pdf). The law requires the government to be more transparent in how it plans public finances, forcing it to present an annual medium-term budgetary and fiscal strategy to the House of Representatives and set spending limits for each ministry. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives in January, after the Finance Ministry first drafted the act in early 2020.

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