The UNSW Digital Financial Services (DFS) Research Team from UNSW Law recently conducted training on the supervision of e-money issuers for supervision staff from the regional Banking Commission in Côte d’Ivoire. This training was undertaken on behalf of UNCDF MM4P. The training was organised by the central bank of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) BCEAO (Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest).[1] Our UNCDF MM4P training was part of a week-long training program undertaken with CGAP and Toronto Centre. CGAP and Toronto Centre are long-time partners in the provision of such capacity building work.

The training was aimed at improving regulators and supervisors’ capacity to conduct effective supervision of e-money issuers. The UNSW DFS Research Team, on behalf of UNCDF MM4P, conducted three training sessions for the participants:

1. Paying Interest on E-Money;
2. Resolution Powers for E-Money Institutions; and
3. Crowdfunding Mechanics and Regulatory Challenges.

Resource materials provided to participants are available here.

The Paying Interest on E-Money session saw a very lively discussion regarding the entitlement of e-money customers to the interest accrued on the outstanding e-money balances stored in trust accounts with banks. Current regulations prohibit the payment of interest on e-money. Our training aimed to ‘open the door’ on the issue of passing on to e‑money customers the benefits from the interest earned on their e‑money balances.

The session on Resolution Powers for E-Money Institutions included a role play exercise where training participants had the task of responding to a situation where an e‑money issuer may be exhibiting symptoms which could result in financial distress or system-wide consequences. The emphasis was on being prepared, having a plan and being well-positioned to make appropriate risk-based judgements in periods of stress for e-money issuers.

Our session on Crowdfunding Mechanics and Regulatory Challenges provided an overview of existing crowdfunding models and was supplemented by numerous case studies and examples specific to West Africa (and where relevant – from other regions as well). The training included a group session aimed to give the audience an ‘inside’ view of a crowdfunding project: each participant took on a specific role (a fundraiser, a funder or a crowdfunding platform) in order to better appreciate the unique objectives pursued by different stakeholders. After this, the three groups analysed the benefits and challenges of a crowdfunding project and presented their findings for everyone else to discuss and comment. The session concluded with a discussion on various regulatory approaches to crowdfunding.