The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is coming up with an array of new measures aimed at jumpstarting the Botswana International Financial Services Centre.
The ministry has completed the drafting of the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) bill. According to the Ministry, this Bill will be presented in the current parliamentary session.
This was said recently by the Ministry’s senior official, Ms Sennanyana at a seminar organised by the International Financial Services Centre.
She was speaking on behalf of Permanent Secretary Serwalo Tumelo.
Sennanyana said the Bill proposes a new regulatory framework that will govern the non-banking financial sector including all non-bank companies accredited to the IFSC.
Sennanyana also told her audience that the price that Botswana has to pay for her liberal economic policy and political stability is that the country becomes vulnerable to money laundering and its devastating social effects. And to protect the citizenry from the ills of money laundering, the anti-money laundering legislation is also being drafted, she said.
“The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is also in the process of finalizing the regulations to govern the international insurance industry.
These regulations will underpin the International Insurance Act (2005). International insurance has been identified as a new avenue to bolster the Botswana IFSC,” said Sennanyana.
Other government interventions include: the 2006 specific amendments to the Income Tax Act with regard to the treatment of capital gains tax for IFSC registered companies and the broadening of the tax framework; and our continued focus on the development of our network of double taxation avoidance (DTA) treaties, with special emphasis being on our trading partners in Africa and abroad and also other important global financial intermediary centres.
“These interventions underscore the commitment of the Government of Botswana to develop a robust, sustainable and internationally credible legislative and regulatory environment for the growth of the Botswana International Financial Services Centre,” she said.
