FINANCE
NAMIFSA
FOSTERING A STABLE AND SAFE FINANCIAL SYSTEM CONTRIBUTING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NAMIBIA that would prevent the country’s financial system from being heavily impacted by financial turbulences and calamities taking place offshore. NAMFISA’s role therefore goes beyond ensuring mere compliance by financial institutions of the laws, regulations and standards to include the promotion of confidence in the financial system, ensuring financial stability and protecting consumers of financial services. With such a heavy responsibility on its shoulders, it cannot be over emphasized enough that NAMFISA is central to the economic success of Namibia. Established by an Act of Parliament, the NAMFISA Act, in 2001, NAMFISA exists to supervise financial institutions and financial services and to advise the Minister of Finance on matters relating to financial institutions and financial services. This includes institutions and activities such as pension funds, medical aid funds, friendly societies, long- and short-term insurance, investment managers, unit trusts, stock brokers and sponsors, the Stock Exchange and micro-lenders. In executing its legislative mandate, NAMFISA is responsible for licensing, compliance and enforcement in terms of relevant legislative instruments Our strategic goal is to become a respected regulator that fosters the soundness of financial institutions, ensure market integrity, maintain financial stability and protect consumers as well as maintain confidence in the financial system. In support of that goal, we initiated several reform initiatives anchored by a three- year rolling strategy.
Chief Executive Officer - Kenneth Matomola
NAMFISA PROFILE
The soundness and safety of a country’s financial system is undoubtedly the bedrock on which the success or failure of its economy rests. Consequently regulators of financial entities play a crucial role to ensure economic growth by applying regulatory principles and supervisory approaches that give regulated entities the space to thrive while at the same time safeguarding interests of other stakeholders such as consumers of financial services and policy makers, chiefly the Government. With poor regulatory and supervisory systems, countries cannot attract investment or create the confidence in system that is required if investors, both local and foreign, are to be encouraged to become part of their long-term future. Examples abound of countries whose financial systems have collapsed and whose citizens are bow bearing the brunt for the lack of sound regulatory and supervisory regimes. With the benefit of history and case studies from the financial crisis of 2008, the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) has not sat idle to wait for the financial tsunami to strike its shores but it has responded proactively by putting in motion a strategy
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The Board and Management are driving the reform process from a difficult past to a future filled with promise and expectation which is ultimately to create an environment of financial safety and stability and to offer protection to the users of financial products and services. Our expectation is that all these actions and activities should cumulatively result in economic development and prosperity for our people through deliberate financial inclusion initiatives. Very importantly, as the financial industry develops new products and services, it becomes cardinally important that Namibians are exposed to education on those financial products and services. This will not only protect consumers from manipulation and abuse but it should enable them to also become owners of financial entities. One of NAMFISA’s main strategic occupations is the drafting of Regulations and Standards to support the implementation of the Financial Institutions and Markets (FIM) Bill, NAMFISA Bill and the Financial Services Adjudicator (FSA) Bill, when these Bills are promulgated by Parliament. The legal drafting work done so far underscored the importance of accelerating the completion of the process related to the FIM, NAMFISA and FSA Bills, and accompanying subordinate legislation. This is vital in giving the financial environment a different, positive complexion that addresses the needs of present day Namibia. In addition, these modern laws will also give impetus to the implementation of the Namibia Financial Sector Strategy (NFSS), the country’s long-term development strategy for the Namibian financial sector.