The restructuring of Barclays Bank was made possible thanks to the recent amendments to the Banking Act 2004. These allow a foreign bank to incorporate locally and avoid systemic risks in the banking sector or to be affected collateral if the parent is facing a financial crash.
The Governor of the Central Bank (BoM) Rundheersing Bheenick welcomed the approach of Barclays Bank to take advantage of the provisions of this law to restructure its operations in Mauritius. He expressed the hope that the other four branches of foreign banks follow, while recalling others propose to simplify their operating structure.
Moreover, the head of the BoM is back on Domestic systemically Important Banks (DSIB) to emphasize that it is currently working on a new framework for identifying these big names in the banking sector. He talked about his approach to come up with new guidelines to prevent market failure by excessive concentration of DSIB. " Our goal is to reduce the complexity of large banking groups to make them easier to manage and more transparent compared to outside shareholders , "said Rundheersing Bheenick.
Furthermore, in response to the authorization granted by the BoM to Barclays to transfer all its activities to the new entity, the Director General, Ravin Dajee argues that this exercise clearly demonstrates the confidence that Barclays was in Mauritius and its potential.