The Reserve Bank of Malawi in Africa has published its "Financial Institutions Supervision Annual Report 2014" which outlines the most recent financial legislation and major regulatory initiatives in that jurisdiction.

The Pension (Amendment) Bill 2014 was passed into law to facilitate the setting up, management and supervision of pension funds. The Banking Act 2010 and the Financial Services Act 2010 were reviewed during the year and various directives were issued. In the banking sector:

• The Malawi Deposit Insurance Scheme Bill was finalised after consultations with relevant stakeholders and submitted to the Ministry of Finance for enactment.
• Amendments to the Money Laundering, Proceeds of Serious Crime and Terrorist Financing Act 2006, with the objective of enhancing oversight powers of the Financial Intelligence Unit, were finalised and submitted to the Ministry of Finance for enactment.
• The Banking (Amendment) Bill 2014 and Financial Services (Amendment) Bill 2014 were finalized and submitted to the Ministry of Finance for enactment.
• Draft E-Money Regulations were submitted to the Ministry of Finance for publication in the Malawi Government Gazette.
• A policy paper on proposing regulatory incentives to promote mortgage finance was drafted.
• A review of the Customer Due Diligence Directive for Banking Institutions was initiated to adapt it to new risks in the financial sector and to align it to requirements of the Money Laundering, Proceeds of Serious Crime and Terrorist Financing Act.

The Government revised its guidelines for the licensing of banks to synchronise them with new banking rules and the revised Basel core principles for effective banking supervision.

In addition, the following directives were published in the Malawi Government Gazette and came into force:

• the Financial Services (Financial Asset Classification for Banks) Directive 2014, replacing the Directive on Asset Classification Number DO1-06/ASCL;
• the Financial Services (Prompt Corrective Action for Banks) Directive 2014; and
• the Financial Services (Fit and Proper Requirements for Shareholders, Directors and Senior Management Officials for Banks) Directive 2014, replacing the Directive on New Directors, Audit Committee Members and Senior Management Officials of Banks Number DO3-06/DAS.

In 2014, the registrar licensed one new insurance broker and two new insurance agents. Also, the following directives were published in the Malawi Government Gazette and came into force:

• the Insurance (External audit and related matters for Insurance Business) Directive;
• the Insurance (Claims Management) Directive; and
• the Insurance (Placement of insurance business outside Malawi) Directive.