LEGISLATION WATCH- House committees to discuss Leasing and Factoring Act, amendments to Economic Courts Act today: The House of Representatives’ Economic Committee is discussing today the proposed Leasing and Factoring Act, according to Ahram Gate. The legislation, which the Ismail Cabinet approved last August, sets up a regulatory framework for factoring and leasing, adds clauses to regulate SME financing and mandates the country’s economic courts with resolving legal issues under the act.

Parliament’s Constitutional and Legislative Committee will also review today amendments to the Economic Courts Act. The amendments would allow economic courts to handle consumer protection-related cases and look to expedite the dispute resolution process. The legislation would also grant economic courts jurisdiction over criminal violations of the Capital Markets Act, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Collateralized Assets Act, and the Civil Aviation Act. The Council of State (Maglis El Dawla) had raised objections to what it saw as a lack of input from ministries and government agencies impacted by the law, including the CBE, Financial Regulatory Authority, and Finance Ministry. It remains unclear whether the law has since undergone a rewrite.