practice. the code shall set out the banking industry ’ s key commitments and obligations to customers on standards of practice, disclosure and principles of conduct in relation to banking services. director of ceremonies, in terms of the best practices, the code shall provide that contract between the commercial banks and customers shall have a clear, plain and simple terms, for the understanding of which no special knowledge is required. a very good example to draw from is when president obama signed the new credit card bill of rights into law, he challenged the industry to create a simple, easy to understand credit card agreement that you “ don ’ t need a law degree or a magnifying glass to understand. ” this means eliminating provisions and confusing terminology used by lawyers for reasons of tradition or habit, replaces the legalistic with plain - language, and introduces information design to enhance readability and comprehension. it is thus the intention of the bank that contracts should be simple, short, and preferable designed to fit on one or two pages. the other key aspect of this code will be to enforce good lending practices by banks to avoid over - indebtedness. banks will, therefore, be expected to act in the best interest of its customers by ensuring that they know and understand the customer ’ s needs, only offer them products and services that are suitable to such needs, and provide them with information to enable them to make informed choices. the code will further require banks to have in place effective complaints handling procedures and appropriate timelines within which complaints should be dealt with. this also means that banks will be directed to be the first “ port - of - call ” to offer redress for customers, by having dedicated complaints desks to handle customer grievances. at this juncture i wish to inform you that the bank of namibia, together with the industry, will issue the said draft code of good banking practice, during the course of this year for public comments. therefore, director of ceremonies, i humbly request the audience present in this room to spend time and do justice to all consumer protection initiatives, which we bis central bankers ’ speeches all agree are close to our hearts by providing extensive comments to the bank on the draft consultative paper. director of ceremonies, ladies and gentlemen, the other initiative being pursued by both the bank of namibia and our sister regulator, the namibia financial institutions supervisory authority, is the establishment of financial services ombuds office, in terms of the draft financial institutions and markets bill. this office will be financed and

ipumbu shiimi : credit information sharing in namibia welcoming remarks by mr ipumbu shiimi, governor of the bank of namibia, at the launch of the namibia data sharing alliance, bank of namibia, windhoek, 2 march 2015. * * * director of ceremony dr prega ramsamy, ceo of finmark trust mr phillip shiimi, ceo of namfisa mr darrel beghin, executive director, credit provider association of sa mr grant phillips, ceo africa regions, transunion mr frank lenisa, director, compuscan representatives of lending institutions, distinguished invited guests, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the bank of namibia! it is my singular honour and pleasure to join you this morning at this occasion to mark the launch of the namibia data sharing alliance. as you may recall, on 19 august 2013, i officiated at the credit information sharing workshop held in windhoek organised by finmark trust. the purpose of the workshop was to explore potential approaches and actions that could improve the quality and flow of credit information in namibia for the benefit of credit providers and, ultimately, their consumers. that workshop paved the way for the establishment of namibia data sharing alliance, as a platform for credit information sharing among credit providers in namibia. what we are witnessing today is a beginning of an exciting journey for namibia in terms of credit information sharing. ladies and gentlemen, the launch of the ndsa comes at a time when the bank is in the process of implementing the regulatory framework for credit bureaus. as you may be aware, namibia did not previously have legislation for regulating credit bureaus. that position changed in august 2014 when the credit bureau regulations were gazetted. the regulations are meant to regulate the operations and conduct of credit bureaus, in order to ensure that credit information sharing is carried out within the confines of the law. as part of the provisions of the regulations, credit providers in namibia are now required to provide credit performance information to all registered credit bureaus. the purpose of this provision is to ensure that a complete picture of individual borrowers is obtained, to enable comprehensive affordability assessments to be done with a view to curb over indebtedness of customers. this is in line with the bank ’ s mandate of enhancing and maintaining stability in the financial sector. therefore, the broader objectives of the ndsa and the credit bureau regulations are complimentary in nature. ladies and gentlemen, the rate of a country ’