EGYPT Trends and Developments Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd, Mariam Rabie, Mohamed Selim and Abdelaziz Mohamed, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
finance activities to provide insurance coverage for their clients up to 65 years of age who have obtained financing from such companies against the risks of death and total permanent disability. Additionally, FRA issued Decree No 35 of 2026 requiring compa - nies licensed to carry out non-banking financial activi - ties, whose issued and paid-up capital exceed EGP50 million, to conclude an annual insurance policy with one of the insurance companies operating in Egypt to cover liability risks of their board of directors and executive managers. Furthermore, the FRA issued Decree No 40 of 2026 regulating the rules and procedures for issuing the investor identification number for trading in securities and financial instruments markets, including the obli - gations of the transacting parties. Data Protection In 2020, Egypt introduced the Law on the Protec - tion of Personal Data No 151 of 2020 (“Data Pro - tection Law”), which regulates personal data that is processed electronically. Prior to the issuance of the Data Protection Law, data protection was only gov - erned by the Constitution, the Penal Code No 58 of 1937 (the “Penal Code”) and Law No 175 of 2018 on Anti-Cybercrime and Information Technology Crimes (the “Cybersecurity Law”). The Data Protection Law is modelled on the European General Data Protec - tion Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (GDPR), as it aims to establish various standards and rules that safeguard data protection and the rights of individuals in Egypt. There are certain types of personal data that are not subject to the Data Protection Law, including, inter alia, data held by the CBE. It is worth noting that the Data Protection Law applies to any controller, processor or handler (natural or juris - tic) of personal data. It also applies to any of the afore - mentioned persons who breach the Data Protection Law if they are: • an Egyptian national inside or outside Egypt; • a non-Egyptian residing within Egypt; or • a non-Egyptian outside Egypt if the act is punish - able in any form in the country where it occurred and the data subject who is affected by the breach
is an Egyptian national or a non-Egyptian residing in Egypt. The Data Protection Law sets out the requirements governing the processing, handling and control of any personal data. As a general principle, such processing is contingent upon obtaining the consent of the data subject and licensing from the Data Protection Cen - tre. It is noteworthy that the Data Protection Centre is designated as the regulatory authority responsible for overseeing the application and enforceability of the Data Protection Law. Moreover, the Data Protection Law regulates the cross-border transfer of personal data and prescribes certain conditions and standards that must be satisfied for the lawful transfer of per - sonal data outside of Egypt. In light of the above, it is worth noting that the Execu - tive Regulations of the Data Protection Law was pub - lished in the Official Gazette on 1 November 2025, and made available to the public around 25 December 2025. Accordingly, persons subject to the Data Pro - tection Law are granted a grace period of one year as of the issuance date thereof to legitimise their position with the Executive Regulations. Banking, Finance and Exchange Control It is worth noting that the Egyptian Pound underwent a number of devaluations throughout 2022 in order to secure IMF loans. Despite the fact that investors are freely allowed by law and the relevant and applicable Bilateral Investment Treaty to transfer dividends to their home country, the current shortage and unavailability of foreign currency in Egypt has made it difficult to transfer such proceeds and dividends of the investors to their home country. As a result, many foreign investors secured their own sources of foreign currency, with banks applying dif - fering priority criteria for exchanging Egyptian pounds into foreign currency. However, it is worth noting that these restrictions have relaxed significantly in 2024, allowing foreign investors to secure foreign currency. Imports As of December 2022, the CBE abolished the sys - tem of requiring importers to obtain letters of credit for their purchases and returned to the cash-against-
327 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook