Egypt's Financial Regulator Boosts Non-Banking Sector with 13 New Approvals

The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), under the leadership of Dr. Islam Azzam, has just issued a series of regulatory approvals for 13 companies operating in various non-banking financial fields. This is a big step in the FRA's ongoing efforts to boost the efficiency of markets it oversees, ramp up competition, attract more investments, and make specialized financial services more widely available to both individuals and businesses. **New Companies Joining Investment, Finance, and Financial Consulting** These approvals include giving the green light for the establishment of "Welsh Real Estate Investment Fund" to dive into real estate investment fund activities. Plus, "Amtar Capital for Financial Investments" is now set to work on promoting and underwriting securities. The FRA also approved the creation of "Al Ahly Tamkeen for Consumer Finance." Interestingly, this company had submitted its applications for establishment and licensing before the FRA's Decision No. 43 of 2026, which temporarily paused new applications for consumer finance licenses. The decisions also covered the establishment of "Insiats SP for Financial Consulting" to offer financial consulting services, as well as "Tameh for Promoting and Underwriting Subscriptions and Managing Real Estate Investment Funds." **Adding New Activities to Existing Companies** In a move to foster growth, the FRA granted approval to "Al Ahly Capital for Microfinance" to expand its operations. They can now also engage in financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), alongside their existing microfinance activities. Additionally, "Al Nile for Financial Leasing" received approval to add factoring to its services, and "International Company for Financial Leasing (Incolis)" can now offer real estate financing. On a related note, "Saqr for Promoting and Underwriting Subscriptions and Managing Investment Funds" and "Tycoon for Securities Brokerage" both got the FRA's nod to accept subscriptions for investment fund units. **New Companies Registered with the Authority** The approvals also extended to registering "Dahab Zaman" for gold trading. This means they're now on the list of entities that investment funds are allowed to work with for buying and selling precious metals. The FRA also approved the registration of "EgyServe" and "Al Masreya Al Dawleya" in the registry of companies that collect financial dues for entities and businesses in the non-banking finance sector. This aligns with the rules set out in FRA Board of Directors Decision No. 278 of 2025. The FRA highlighted that these approvals are a key part of its role in overseeing and regulating non-banking financial markets and activities. This broad scope includes capital markets, futures exchanges, insurance, real estate finance, financial leasing, factoring, and securitization, along with approving the establishment and licensing of companies that operate in these vital sectors.