During the Financial Market Dealer Association (Fimda) Annual Lakeshore Conference, The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) executive director of corporate affairs Henry Mathanga urged financial market dealers to not partake in foreign exchange externalisation.

Mathanga said that some commercial banks are involved in forex malpractices, either knowingly or unknowingly. RBM has constantly been on the front lines, combating financial crimes; as of February this year, the central bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with seven government law enforcement agencies to charge on unauthorized externalization of foreign exchange. The development followed after an alarming $394.60m was lost, reportedly due to the crime. “We would like to see Fimda playing a big role in stemming illegal foreign exchange externalisation” said Mathanga

Signing the MoU in February with RBM, were Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Director of Public Persecutions and the Malawi Police Service, just to mention a few.