The Bank of Mozambique (BoM) has expressed ‘concern’ about the increase in entities taking deposits and advising clients on investments, without licensing or authorisation, warning users that these practices are illegal.
‘The central bank has been following with concern the increase in entities that, without being licensed for the purpose, are dedicated to carrying out activities reserved for credit institutions. The BoM is keeping a close eye on these actions to capture deposits from the public through services publicised on social networks and other media, with the aim of redistributing them to other members of a certain group, through the application of administrative fees,’ he said.
‘The central bank is also on the lookout for the provision of investment consultancy services, with the subsequent taking of deposits from the public and the promise to make investments in financial markets, with a greater predominance for investments known as Forex, made on digital platforms and in a decentralised manner,’ he added.
The notice recalled that carrying out these actions without authorisation from the Bank of Mozambique is illegal, since, according to the legislation, ‘only credit institutions can carry out the activity of receiving deposits or other repayable funds from the public, for use on their own account’, calling on users to consult the list of institutions licensed to operate in the country.
According to previous data from the institution, there are currently 15 banks, 14 micro-banks, four credit cooperatives, 13 savings and loan organisations and 2,304 micro-credit operators, among other types.
