Well-functioning domestic financial markets crucial for economic growth

The Institute will from Monday 14 to Friday 18 May 2018 hold a workshop on ‘Legal and Regulatory Issues in Domestic Financial Markets Development’.  .  The workshop which will be in Harare, Zimbabwe will be officially opened by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Dr. John Mangudya.

The workshop will address various aspects relating to the legal and regulatory framework, operationalised through effective institutional arrangements. The experts resourcing this Regional Workshop are largely MEFMI Fellows drawn from the pool of experts developed by the Institute in all member countries. Specialists have also been drawn from technical cooperating partners of MEFMI like the South African Reserve Bank, East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, as well as other authorities who are internationally based. Another important set of facilitators are MEFMI staff who are responsible for the development of the domestic financial markets in the various member countries.

Well-functioning domestic financial markets are crucial for economic growth and their development is key for government and the private sector as a whole. The primarily and most crucial aspect for the development of domestic financial markets is a sound legal and regulatory framework which encourages growth and innovation rather than stifling it. The smooth operation of the financial markets are hinged on a legal and regulatory framework which provide certainty of legal rights of claims of financial institutions and give predictability of fair enforcement. Further, empowerment of and coherence between financial regulators and the conduct of market participants are governed by this same framework which provides a structure to enforce rules, to facilitate monitoring and oversight, and protect investors. These frameworks and arrangements should ideally be up-to-date and backed by strong institutions with effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.

In several MEFMI member countries, review and modernisation of legal and regulatory frameworks and institutional arrangements has been ongoing. These reviews should ideally be aligned to agreements reached at regional level and speak to the integration criteria. This regional agenda is useful for the coordinated development of the domestic financial markets, in terms of reducing regulatory burden by harmonising financial laws and processes and integrating systems to reduce monitoring and mitigate risk.

Participants attending the workshop are drawn from MEFMI member countries and from various institutions involved in the establishment and / or implementation of legal and regulatory frameworks, legal counsel, officers of debt and aid management, market development analysts, external debt advisers, research officers, and economists.  All these participants interact with the domestic financial markets in their member countries, thus, there will be significant peer-to-peer learning opportunities and vibrant discussions. Each participant will be intentional in their interaction as they seek to learn with the ultimate goal of solving the challenges witnessed in their home countries and positively impacting the development of the domestic financial markets.