A legislative bill to expand the number of permitted financial institutions in the city is on its way to the parliament, the Executive Council (ExCo) announced Friday.
Last Friday, the ExCo announced it had concluded discussions on the bill.
According to the ExCo, the bill focuses on five main areas. It aims to “[increase] the flexibility of the bank licensing system.” It proposes that room be made for future licenses of financial institutions “to fit with the development of the modern financial industry.” The concept of “banks with restricted businesses” will also be introduced.
Furthermore, “so as to promote the implementation and development of innovative technologies in the financial trade,” a provisional licensing system has been proposed for financial technology projects.
As the government has boasted that Macau is the new bond exchange center, the bill will also simplify the procedure for launching the financial commodity.
The bill also proposes stricter surveillance over capital funding which occurs either without the approval from the Monetary Authority of Macao or through illegal channels. Financial institutions will be required to exercise tighter supervision.
For the time being, it is unclear if this will affect online crowd-funding.
Harsher punishments on the illegal acceptance of public savings have been proposed.
The ExCo has also concluded discussions on the executive regulations governing the Industrial and Commercial Development Fund. The administratively and financially autonomous fund will become a subsidiary of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) and, hence, come under the supervision of the Secretary for Economy and Finance.
The scope of the fund’s authority is determined by the public financial subsidy system of the Macau SAR executive regulations. Projects related to the development of the fishing industry, despite links to industrial and commercial practices, will be put under the authority of a fishery development fund.
All existing approved funds will remain valid and effective, unless stopped, suspended or invalidated.
The executive regulations will take effect on the day following its promulgation.
The last bill for which the ExCo recently concluded discussions is related to the arbitration system for water leakage in buildings.
Water leakage inspection has been difficult because some inspections can only be conducted through private properties. The bill thus proposes an arbitration system that comes with a magistracy, which will have the authority to order suspected sources of leakage to comply with the inspections and investigations. The magistracy will be legally empowered to handle arguments about water leakage in buildings.
