Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority adopts smart regulation model and reports 300,000 digital verifications and 250,000 authenticated e-contracts

The Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority outlined its shift toward a technology-led “smart regulation” model to accelerate digital transformation across Egypt’s non-banking financial sector. Presented by FRA Chair Mohamed Farid during Cairo ICT 2025, the update highlighted operational progress including 300,000 digital verification transactions and 250,000 authenticated digital contracts, alongside expanded data-driven supervision through full electronic connectivity with insurers and securitisation companies and recent approval of the first digital real estate investment platform. Farid linked the programme to Law No. 5 of 2022 on the use of technology in non-banking financial activities, followed by a June 2023 package including Decision No. 139 on technology infrastructure, data security, governance and risk, Decision No. 140 on digital verification, digital identity, digital records and contracts, and Decision No. 141 establishing a register for outsourcing firms. Subsequent steps included Decision No. 163 of November 2023 establishing the FRA Sandbox and Decision No. 268 of January 2024 allowing start-up finance companies to be set up with paid-in capital of EGP 15 million, alongside the FRA FinTech Forum as an engagement channel with market participants. The authority reported that, out of 79 non-banking financial companies assessed, 25 now provide services fully digitally and 54 have met digital requirements, with six outsourcing companies registered and two start-up finance companies established; by segment, digital activity was split between insurance at 6%, financing at 29% and capital markets at 65%.