LEGISLATION WATCH- Regulating all the things: Crowdfunding is now on the FRA’s priority list: Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) boss Mohamed Omran outlined his agency’s list of legislative priorities in a briefing with reporters yesterday. The FRA chairman says the market regulator is looking to regulate crowdfunding as well as real estate developers and added that it is also looking at changes that would allow the microfinance law to possibly raise individual borrowing limits and ease the funding process. You can also expect insurance coverage for recipients of microfinance to be on the agenda at a cost of 0.0035% of total funding. The FRA is also debating whether to allow insurance companies to make their fiscal year end in December and not in June to bring the sector in line with other industries regulated by the FRA.

Draft Consumer Credit Act is with cabinet: The FRA has sent the draft Consumer Credit Act to cabinet for approval and expects it could clear the House of Representatives before the end of the current legislative season, Omran told reporters. The proposed law differentiates between retailers offering sales on installment and consumer finance houses: All consumer finance companies will be subject to the act, while retailers will fall under it only when on-installment sales break the EGP 25 mn mark.