Issue 28
April 2025
Welcome to the MBA's News Digest!
Dear readers,
The Mauritius Bankers Association submits its 2025 Budget Memorandum to the Ministry of Finance, as part of of the Budget 2025-2026 consultations; with sustainable finance as the backbone.
Luxembourg’s ABBL publishes a new guide to help non-profit associations navigate the process of opening a bank account.
While the French Banking Association’s annual report highlights the importance of the right balance between financial strength, and competitiveness for strengthening the European Union’s strategic autonomy.
Best wishes,
The MBA team
2025 Budget Memorandum
8 April 2025
The Mauritius Bankers Association has submitted its 2025 Budget Memorandum, to the Ministry of Finance, ahead of the presentation of the 2025-2026 National Budget, by Government.
The MBA’s memo focusses on:
• bolstering the growth of the MIFC, a scalable export sector
• preserving the competitiveness of the banking sector
• key enablers for banks to deploy sustainable finance
• the digitalisation of our national ecosystem
• mobilising finance: SMEs, Capital Markets and Real Estate
Stay tuned, for more information.
New guide to facilitate bank account opening for non-profit associations
11 March 2025
‘Developed in collaboration with Luxembourg’s banking institutions and with input from the CSSF, this guide provides a clear overview of the information and documents typically required, as well as the regulatory obligations that banks must comply with. Opening a bank account for a non-profit association can involve specific challenges, in particular due to legal and regulatory requirements. By clarifying these requirements and the expectations of banks, the guide aims to support non-profit associations in preparing their account opening requests.’
Innovating wholesale payments: building a resilient and innovative future − speech by Victoria Cleland
25 March 2025
‘Speech given by Victoria Cleland at Pay 360 highlighting the Bank of England’s involvement in innovation in wholesale payments. She discusses the importance of modernising infrastructure, expanding access to the Real Time Gross Settlement service, benefitting from adopting ISO 20022 enhanced data, and engaging in experimentation. Working closely with industry, these initiatives can enhance efficiency, resilience, and inclusivity in the payments landscape.’
“The Swiss financial centre is well protected against cyber risks”
18 March 2025
‘Cooperation between the various stakeholders is the key to success here. We have created a network in which financial institutions, the Swiss National Bank, FINMA, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and other relevant parties are in close contact with each other. The Swiss FS-CSC functions as a hub for coordination and knowledge transfer. It currently coordinates seven chapters with some 80 experts working on specific topics. The authorities – the NCSC, FINMA and the State Secretariat for International Finance – are represented in its key governing bodies as affiliates. The Crisis Coordination Cell is a core element of the association. In the event of a systemic cyber crisis, it assesses the situation, provides recommendations for action and handles coordination and communication in conjunction with the authorities. It is especially important in a crisis for everyone involved to work together rapidly and smoothly to minimise the damage and maintain the stability of the financial centre.’
The French Banking Federation publishes “The banking industry in 2024”
12 March 2025
‘Inclusion and engagement – Drawing on one of the densest regional networks in Europe and close customer relationships enhanced by digital technology, the French banking model provides all customers with solutions to meet their needs. Banks offer a diversified and innovative range of services, particularly for payments, that simplify everyday uses while ensuring data protection and transaction security. In this respect, in 2024, the banking industry organised a new national fraud prevention campaign involving the public authorities. The consistency of this model is a genuine asset for banking and financial inclusion…’
Open banking: Navigating new fraud risks
25 March 2025
‘Open banking is on the rise globally, especially in markets such as the US and UK, where the technology has already been integrated into many popular financial tools and services. The global value of open banking transactions is expected to surpass $330 billion by 2027, up from $57 billion in 2023. While open banking allows individuals and small businesses to be more fully in charge of their own financial data, it also creates new challenges for banks navigating fraud risks. The collaborative nature of open banking introduces more opportunities for fraud. Fraudsters often target the weakest links, exploiting third-party providers that may lack the rigorous fraud awareness and defenses typically found in banks. This interconnectedness heightens the risk of data breaches, where sensitive financial information can fall into the wrong hands. With more parties sharing access to customer data, the challenge of ensuring robust security across the ecosystem becomes increasingly critical.’
Protecting sensitive data in regulated markets: 20 years of digital confirmations
18 March 2025
‘In March, the FCA issued a general warning about banks’ shortcomings in financial crime controls, including “a failure to risk-assess their own or their customers’ activities” in respect of money laundering. Its publication followed fines imposed on global banks and others for non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation. In August, the FCA broke new ground by sanctioning an auditor, in this instance for “failing to alert the FCA to suspected fraudulent activity”. In the words of the FCA’s Andrea Bowe, the case established a precedent that withholding “potentially vital information can lead to enforcement action”… It is in banks’ as well as auditors’ interests to comply with FRC standards, for example in responding to audit confirmation requests accurately and securely. In doing so, they minimise the risk of loss to themselves and their clients, and ensure more efficient financial transactions.’
ABA survey shows strong majority of Americans value overdraft protection
26 March 2025
‘According to the survey, seven in 10 consumers (70%) find their bank’s overdraft protection valuable – as compared with only 14% who do not find it valuable. Eight in 10 consumers (80%) who have paid an overdraft fee in the past year were glad their bank covered their overdraft payment, rather than returning or declining payment, and 68% of consumers think it’s reasonable for banks to charge a fee for an overdraft, as opposed to only 23% who think it’s unreasonable. Three in four consumers view overdraft fees as reasonable when considering that large payments like mortgages or rent payments are covered and paid on time (74%) or when considering that customers are protected from late or other penalty fees if payments overdraw a customer’s account (75%).’
FS-ISAC releases guidance for implementing AI solutions
26 March 2025
‘The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center this week released a report to help financial service providers predict the challenges and identify the uncertainties involved in implementing generative artificial intelligence solutions. “Charting the Course of AI: Practical Considerations for Financial Services Leaders” is the latest guidance developed by FS-ISAC’s AI Risk Working Group, a group of AI and cybersecurity experts at financial firms. The paper provides short-, medium- and long-term risk scenarios to help leaders project the outcomes of their choices, according to FS-ISAC. It also included eight key questions financial firms should ask themselves as they prepare for AI implementation, such as whether they have an ‘AI champion’ and if they train employees to interact and support AI.’
Executive order phases out U.S. Treasury paper checks
25 March 2025
Under a new executive order from President Trump, effective Sept. 30, the U.S. Treasury will no longer issue paper checks for disbursements, including tax refunds, vendor payments, benefit payments and intergovernmental transfers. The order also covers the use of paper checks to pay the federal government “as soon as practicable, and to the extent permitted by law.” In addition, it directs the Treasury Department to develop a comprehensive public awareness campaign of the change, “including guidance on accessing and setting up digital payment options.” In a statement, American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols said the association welcomed the order. He noted that despite a continued decline in business and consumer use of checks, check fraud has continued to rise… “That is why ABA and banks across the country launched the #PracticeSafeChecks campaign last October to educate consumers, including encouraging them to use digital banking options to send money whenever possible,” Nichols said. “The bottom line: Electronic payments are a much faster, cheaper and safer choice for consumers and the federal government.” ’
ABA, associations urge Congress to extend cybersecurity information sharing law
21 March 2025
‘The American Bankers Association today joined 11 associations in urging lawmakers to extend a federal law that established voluntary procedures for information sharing about cyberthreats between government and private entities and protections for sharing among private sector companies. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act was passed by Congress in 2015 following an Office of Personnel and Management data breach that exposed the private information of millions of government employees and contractors. The law is set to expire on Sept. 30. In a joint letter, the associations said the information-sharing framework the legislation created “has been instrumental in strengthening our collective defense against cybersecurity threats that continue to grow in sophistication and severity.” ’
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