The Non-Bank Financial InstitutionsRegulatory Authority’s (NBFIRA)together with the Ministry of Financeand Development Planning (MFDP), is conductinga thorough review of all applicablelegislations. This was revealed by MFDPMinister Kenneth Matambo last week as heoffi ciated at the Authority’s corporate identitylaunch at the Gaborone International ConventionCentre. The Authority started operatingin 2008 following the governments’decision to establish a single independent authorityto regulate the activities of non-bankfi nancial institutions in the country.
“The on-going review of the legislationpertaining to the insurance industry, the retirementfunds industry, and the capital markets,is expected to align these fundamentallegislative frameworks to international standards.In the process, NBFIRA’s ability toproperly supervise these highly technical anddynamic industries is also being upgraded,”said Matambo. In a move to maintain its relevance,he said the Authority is also migratingfrom the current compliance-based methodologyfor supervision, to a risk-based supervisionbusiness model. The risk based supervisionmodel is expected to bring NBFIRAwell within the framework of internationalbest practices.
It will also facilitate the developmentand enhancement of fi nancial soundnessand effi ciency within the non-bankingfi nancial services sector.The Minister further indicated that NBFIRAcontinues to face challenges in the area ofhuman resources due to the acute shortage oflocal expertise in the regulatory area.Since its inception, it is understood that theAuthority also faced challenges of fundingas dependence solely on government subventionshas proven to be inadequate for itsoperational needs. NBFIRA Board ChairpersonMmatlala Dube said as they started in ayear that credit crunch was at its worst, theyhad to devise ways of doing so much and yetequipped with so little.