Micro Deposit-Taking Institutions Bill 2002 - Summary of Workshops and Information Exchange Events

This publication reflects the process that led to the passage of the Ugandan Micro Deposit-Taking Institutions Bill in November 2002. The Act provides a regulatory framework for MFI that will take deposits from the public and address the issues of:

• Regulation and Supervision - legalising the right for MFIs to mobilise savings and to on-lend them;
• Ownership, Governance and Management - requiring MFIs to set up ownership and governance structures that ensure transparency and accountability that will entail a capability to manage liquidity risks and costs; to train staff and management in savings product delivery, and to develop a more complex organisational structure and information systems;
• Physical Security - special arrangements with formal sector banks or safes, guards and other measures that ensure the physical security of the savings mobilised yet increase the cost of providing the service.

Publication focuses on the different workshops and events that were held to explain the issue of microfinance regulation to parlamentarians and other stakeholders and highlights the importance of lobbying in the process of passing a microfinance regulatory framework without major amendments.