The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) issued directives to banks operating in the Egyptian market to not deal with more than seven exchange bureaus.
The deputy governor of the CBE, Gamal Negm, said that banks and companies will be granted a 4-month transition period for them to adjust with the new directives.
According to the CBE, there are 92 exchange bureaus working in the Egyptian market now, while only 38 banks are currently operating in Egypt. Some banks deal with tens of exchange bureaus. One major bank in the market alone deals with 60% of all exchange bureaus.
Negm added, in a statement to banks, that the CBE noticed that many exchange bureaus deal with one bank, so the new directives aim to eliminate this.
The CBE obliged banks to submit their contracts signed with exchange bureaus. It also stressed the importance of exchange bureaus not setting the exchange rate themselves, but rather obliging each company to deal according to the exchange rate announced by the bank they deal with. The CBE added that the exchange companies must also highlight the name of the bank from which they get their exchange rate prices.
