COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI)
The COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI) held training on international business standard that requires financial institutions to maintain enough cash reserves to cover risks incurred by operations.
The training which was referred to as BASEL II and III also covered Macro-prudential Surveillance for Central Banks from the region. Participants were drawn from Central Banks of seven member States including DR Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The five day training took place in Nairobi, Kenya.
Speaking at the event, CMI Director Ibrahim Zeidy said the world was moving to Basel III and therefore it was important for the region to understand the reason of introducing the training. This he said will address the implementation challenges for the region by assessing what needs to be done to ensure Basel II and III compliance.
“The enhanced implementation of Basel II and III will speed up the achievement of enhanced financial integration in the COMESA region,” Mr Zeidy said.
Further, he said the training enables participants to gain hands on skills on computations of Basel I, II and III minimum capital requirements, credit risk weighted assets, capital charges for operational and market risks, liquidity coverage (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratios (NSFR).
The participants also discussed the challenges of implementing Basel II and III and proposed policies for the way forward. The training was organized in fulfilment of a directive by COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks in November, 2015 to CMI to conduct a course on “Basel II, III and Macro-prudential Surveillance”.
The name is derived from BASEL, Switzerland, where the Committee that maintains the Accord meets. The usefulness of the Accord to COMESA is to ensure financial stability in the Region. This is a cornerstone of the COMESA Monetary Cooperation Programme.
