The Bank of Mozambique recently announced the return of Standard Bank Moçambique (SB) to the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (MCI), with effect from 24 July 2023. The financial institution is now able to carry out all legally permitted operations, as outlined in Notice no. 7/GBM/2021 of 22 December, which establishes the rules of the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market.
The decision comes after Standard Bank took significant corrective measures to bring its operations into line with current rules and practices. Standard Bank, the third most systemically important bank in the country, had been suspended on 12 July 2021 from any foreign exchange activity and currency conversion for a period that could extend up to a year, a sanction renewed in 2022.
This measure came in response to an inspection by the Central Bank, which identified five areas in which the bank was violating the operating rules established by Mozambican legislation. At the time, the Central Bank cited fraudulent manipulation of the exchange rate, the implementation of an illegal payment network based outside the country, non-compliance with the terms of export commitments and failure to deliver recordings to the Bank of Mozambique within the stipulated deadlines as reasons for the suspension. In addition, Standard Bank was required to pay a fine of 290 million meticais.
As part of the sanctions, two Standard Bank managers, Adimohanma Chukwuma Nwokocha, then chief executive of Nigerian nationality, and Carlos Domingos Francisco Madeira, director of Corporate and Investment Banking, of Mozambican nationality, were also penalised by the Bank of Mozambique. In addition to the fines, they were barred from holding any management position in credit institutions and financial companies in the country for six years.
Standard Bank's exclusion from the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market caused serious difficulties for customers with foreign currency accounts.
