The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) closed five exchange companies after it was proven that they committed violations in dealing in the exchange market, according Deputy Governor of the CBE Gamal Negm.
In a statement during his participation at the 8th Conference of the Egyptian Banking Institute on Monday, Negm said the CBE is close to finalising new regulations for the operations of exchange firms. He however refused to reveal any further details regarding these regulations.
Negm said the closure of money exchange companies and revoking their licenses is one of the sanctions provided for in banking law.
In response to a question regarding the types of violations committed by the closed companies, Negm said they were many and repeated, the most important of which was manipulating exchange rates.
Negm emphasised that audit campaigns on exchange companies are ongoing and will not stop, noting that these are similar to audits and inspection on banks.
The CBE has been cracking down on the informal exchange market, in a bid to narrow the gap between the dollar exchange rate in the informal market against its official rate at banks.
The CBE has issued numerous regulations in this regard, including its recent decision to depreciate the pound against the dollar earlier in March.
