Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority reviews non-banking finance reforms including sandbox, E-KYC and SPAC activation

Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) published a readout of Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Mohamed Farid’s meeting with FRA staff, in which he reviewed recent regulatory, legislative and market-development reforms in Egypt’s non-banking financial sector and called for continued modernization. Items highlighted included issuing most of the executive decisions for the Unified Insurance Law, described as the first comprehensive insurance law replacing four separate laws, and launching a regulatory sandbox as a structured channel for developing and testing new ideas. The update also referenced the operationalisation of digital identity verification tools for electronic know-your-customer (E-KYC), revisions to securities listing rules and the rollout of new products, including activation of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and changes to voluntary delisting rules intended to protect minority shareholders. Further amendments covered easier listing for newly established companies and more balanced requirements for major shareholders’ share retention, while gold investment funds were reported to have attracted around 324,000 investors with EGP 5.145bn invested as of end-December 2025. The statement also noted the launch of an organised voluntary carbon market to support sustainability and carbon-emission reduction efforts. Farid urged staff to preserve and build on the reform programme and keep pace with global changes, without setting out specific additional measures or timelines.