WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/N/494 
22 June 2009 
 (09-3048) 
Council for Trade in Services Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III:3 OF THE 
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES 
 
  The following notification, dated 18 June 2009, from the delegation of the Arab Republic of 
Egypt, is being circulated to the Member s of the Council for Trade in Services.  
 
_______________ 
 
 1. Member notifying: 
 Egypt 
 
2. Notification under: 
 Article III, paragraph 3 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services  
 3. Date of entry into force: 
 July 2003 
 
 Duration: 
 
 Indefinite 
 
4. Agency responsible for enfo rcement of the measure: 
 The Central Bank of Egypt. 
 
5. Description of the measures: 
 Law no. 88 of the year 2003 promulgating th e Law of the Central Bank, the banking sector 
 And the Money Amended by Law No.162 of the year 2004 and Law no.93 of the year 2005.   The provisions of the Law shall apply to the cen tral Bank of Egypt, the banking sector and the 
 money markets. 
 
• The Central Bank shall be a public legal pe rson, under the direct authority of the 
President of the Republic. Its statute shall be promogulated  by a degree of the President of the Republic. The legal domicile of the centr al Bank and its head quarters shall be the 
city of Cairo. 
 
• The Governor of the Central Bank shall re gularly submit a quarterly report to the 
President of the Republic. The report shall contain an analysis of the monetary, credit and S/C/N/494 
Page 2  
 
  banking developments, as well as the external  debt balance during the reported period 
approved by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank. Through its official publications ‘the Egyptian Journal’, the Central Bank shall disclose the procedures applied in 
implementing the monetary policy and its d ecisions related to the organization of 
regulatory procedures. These procedures and decisions should be in accordance with the rules and dates specified in its statute. 
 
• The Central Bank shall undertake to mainta in the price stability and a sound banking 
system, in conformity with the general economic policy of the country. It shall set, in 
agreement with the government, the objec tives of the monetary policy, through a 
Coordinating Council to be formed by a decree of the President of the Republic, and of which responsibilities will be determin ed by the Executive Regulations. 
 
• The Central Bank shall take measures ensuring the realization of its objectives. In 
discharging its functions it shall, in particular, have the following power:  
 
• Issuing banknotes and determining th eir denominations and specifications. 
 
• Managing liquidity in the national economy. It may issue the securities commensurate 
with the nature of its funds and activities. 
 
• Influencing banking credit in a way warranting the fulfillment of the actual needs of the 
different aspects of economic activity. 
 
• Supervising the units of the banking sector. 
 
• Managing the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the state. 
 
• Regulating and managing the foreign exchange market. 
 
• Supervising the national payments system. 
 
• Recording and following up the external debt of the government, the economic and 
service authorities, the public sector, the pub lic business sector and the private sector 
according to the forms to be set by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank. 
 
• In case of a financial crisis or another unforeseen situation requiring a necessary 
intervention in the financial market s, the Central Bank may take any measures it 
considers appropriate, such as the extens ion of the exceptional finance to banks, 
according to the terms and conditions to be determined by the Board of Directors of the 
Central Bank. It may Also extend credit to  banks and to foreign and international 
institutions and authorities subject to the provisions of this Law. In addition, it may guarantee the financing and the credit facilitie s obtained by public legal persons or the 
banks governed by the provisions of this law. 
 
• Any individual organization or establishment not registered according to the provisions of 
this Low, shall be prohibited from exercisi ng any bank business, with the exclusion of 
public legal persons exercising any of such bus iness within the limits of the deed of their 
establishment. 
  S/C/N/494 
 Page 3 
 
 
  • Any establishment not registered according to the provisions of this Low, shall be 
prohibited from using the term “bank” or  any other expression similar to it in any 
language, whether in its special na me, commercial title, or publicity. 
 
• The issued and fully paid-up capital shall not  be less than five hundred million Egyptian 
pounds, and the capital appropriated for the activ ities of the branches of foreign banks in 
the Arab Republic of Egypt shall not be l ess than fifty million US dollars or their 
equivalent in free currencies. 
 
• The Governor of the Central Bank, following approval of the Board of Directors, may 
authorize foreign banks to open representative offices for then in the Arab Republic of 
Egypt, upon the following conditions: 
 
A. They have no branches in branches in the Arab Republic of Egypt. 
 
B. Their head offices shall be subject to supe rvision by the authority concerned in the 
countries where these offices are situated. 
 
C. The activity of the representative offices shall be restricted to studying the markets 
and investment potentials, and shall act as a liaison with the head offices abroad. 
They shall contribute to overcoming the problems and difficulties may face their 
correspondent banks in the Arab Republic of Egypt. 
 
D. These offices are prohibited from exercising an y bank or trade activity, including the 
activity of commercial agents a nd financial intermediations.  
 
• The board of Directors of the Central Bank may, according to the condition and terms it 
determines, authorize banks and branches of fo reign banks whose dealings are restricted  
to free currencies, to deal in the local currency. 
 
• The Central Bank shall obtain from the foreign banks that have branches  in the Arab 
Republic of  Egypt, a guarantee for all deposits at the branch and for all its other 
obligations, as determined by the board of directors of the central bank. 
 
• The Central Bank shall be notified of any modi fication required in the deed of association 
of any bank or in its statue.  Any modifica tion in the data submitted on application for 
registration shall also be notified. 
 
• The bank shall have funds in the Arab republic of Egypt equivalent to its obligations, and 
payable therefor, in addition to an amount of not less than minimum issued and paid-up capital as prescribed in Article(32) of this law. 
 
• Each bank shall have the power to determine the interest rates on banking transactions it 
carries out, according to the nature of these tr ansaction. It may also determine the fees it 
applies for the banking services, without being restricted by the limits and the provisions 
prescribed in any other law. 
 
• Egyptians and others may own the capital of banks, without being restricted by maximum 
limit prescribed in any other law, and without prejudice to the condition in the law. 
 
• Whenever one of the banks is exposed to financial problems aff ecting its financial 
position, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank may ask the management of the S/C/N/494 
Page 4  
 
  problem bank to provide the necessary additiona l financial resources in the form of paid-
up capital insurance or support funds to be placed with the bank according to the conditions and rules set by the Board of  Directors of the Central Bank  and with in the 
period to be determined thereby. Otherwise, th e Board of  Directors of the Central  Bank 
may either specify the increase it considers necessary in the capital and offer it for subscription, with the procedures and conditions  to be determined thereby, or issue a 
decision for merging the bank with another,  conditional upon the approval of the bank 
with which it is another, conditional upon the approval of the bank with which it is 
merging, or delist the registration of the problem bank, according to the rules prescribed 
in this respect. 
 
• Every natural or legal person may maintain a ll foreign currencies transferred thereto, or 
owned or possessed thereby. He shall have the right to conduct any foreign currency 
transaction, including inward and outward tran sfers, and local dealing, providing these 
transactions shall be made via the banks aut horized for dealing in foreign currencies. 
 
• Authorized banks may carry out all foreign exchange transactions including the 
acceptance of deposits, dealing in foreign exchange, inward and outward transfers, 
operation and hedging with respect to their foreign exchange holdings. The export and 
import of the of foreign banknotes and the export of foreign currencies shall be 
exclusively undertaken by authorized banks  subject to approval of the Central Bank. 
6. Members specifically affected, if any: 
 None 
 7. Texts available from: 
Central Bank of Egypt website:  www.cbe.org.eg
 
 Address : Central Bank of Egypt  
  Research sector  
54 Gomhoria ST., 
Cairo  
Egypt  
 
Tel: 202 27701339  -  27701340 
Fax: 202 25976022/21 
E-mail:  research@cbe.org.eg 
  
__________