The Central Bank of Eswatini has now shifted from exchange control regime to financial surveillance to allow a significant aspect of monitoring foreign currency coming in and out of the country to be delegated to Authorized Dealers.

Authorized dealers include banks (Standard Bank, FNB, Eswatini Bank, Nedbank and Swaziland Building Society), bureaus and remittance-providing entities. A division within the Bank previously known as Exchange Control, was officially launched yesterday by the Minister of Finance, Hon. Neal Rijkenberg at Sibane Hotel. The shift means only a few transaction categories will still require pre-approval by the Central Bank and this will improve the ease of doing business in Eswatini.

Speaking at the launch the Minister said, “The migration from exchange controls to financial surveillance regime will stimulate foreign direct investments and further lead to an increased likelihood of Eswatini attaining trade driven economic growth.” In his remarks, the CBE Governor, Majozi Sithole pointed out that the previous pre-approval processes combined with the phrase “Exchange Controls” were undesirable, perceived as stringent and therefore not investor friendly. “It is in that light that the Central Bank is adopting the financial surveillance regime. It is our expectation that investor confidence will be significantly improved going forward,” he said. Click here to read the Governor’s full speech.

Speaking on behalf of the Bankers Association, Swaziland Building Society Managing Director, Mbali Sibanyoni, said, “As the financial industry, we would like to assure the Central Bank that we are ready to embrace these powers that are continuously being passed unto us and would further like to make an undertaking that we continue doing business responsibly to ensure the well-regarded integrity of the financial sector.”

With the launch of the Financial Surveillance division and all it comes with, we are dedicating ourselves as a Central Bank to continuously eliminate the need to seek for Central Bank endorsement (red-tape) prior to moving funds to decrease the time lag in the movement of funds. Financial surveillance is the future of banking!