Recently passed amendments Real Estate Registry Act were the biggest talking point on the airwaves last night as the talking heads began to dissect what the legislative changes mean on the ground.

The main takeaway: Judges are now the ones mandated with validating real estate sale and purchase agreements, according to the Real Estate Registry and Notarization’s Gamal Yaqout, who sat down for a discussion of the matter on Al Hayah Al Youm. The amendments do not scrap the “signature validation” route — a relatively cheap and fast method to register real estate by filing a case to prove that the signatures on the sale and purchase contract are valid and belong to the right buyer and seller, Court of Cassation lawyer Wissam Ismail explained to host Mohamed Sherdy (watch, runtime: 23:06).

Not registering your property will mean not having access to basic utilities like electricity and water, Justice Minister Omar Marwan warned Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa. The actual fees for real estate registry are capped at EGP 2k, regardless of the property size, Marwan said (watch, runtime: 16:05). Some 95% of the country’s properties are not registered, Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi pointed out as she encouraged policymakers to consider slashing the registration fees to push for greater compliance (watch, runtime: 2:26).

CBE initiatives + policies get airtime: Banque Misr Chairman Mohamed El Etreby had a chat with Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary on the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) regulations on banks’ lending portfolios to MSMEs, which he said are part of the country push to bring the informal economy into the formal economy (watch, runtime: 6:08). (We have chapter and verse on the new regs in the news well, above.) Meanwhile, Deputy CBE Governor Mai Aboul Naga recapped parts of the central bank’s monetary stimulus package, including its tourism support initiative and a decision to scrub financially distressed companies from the CBE and i-Score’s blacklist. Aboul Naga also covered the CBE’s decision to allow those aged 16-21 to open bank accounts without their guardians’ consent (watch, runtime: 31:16).

Also on the airwaves last night:

• Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center now has a mobile app to keep users informed and dispel rumors. (Mohamed Sherdy on Al Hayah Al Youm | watch, runtime: 12:34)
• The Environment Ministry is organizing a marathon with adventurer Omar Samra in Fayoum’s Qarun to promote tourism in the governorate, Minister Yasmine Fouad said. (Mohamed Sherdy on Al Hayah Al Youm | watch, runtime: 03:07)