The Bank of Uganda has permitted forex bureaus to transfer money abroad. This has prompted the Uganda Forex Bureaus Association to change name to “The Uganda Forex Bureaus and Remittance Association.â€
The chairman, Herbert Wamala pointed out that it is a very big achievement for the members since it has always been their wish to expand the Association.
“The association now represents a wider spectrum of service providers in the financial sector a we accommodate money transfer operations,â€says Wamala.
According to him the major challenge ahead of the association is to ensure that whoever is licensed to transfer money does not abuse their license. Wamala admitted that it is a sensitive business and that it the major reason as to why the Central Bank has for so long been reluctant to grunt forex bureaus engage in transferring money abroad.
He explains that their plan is to ensure that procedures for money transfer are streamlined as well as ensuring that the Anti-Money Laundering Bill is also passed into law.
This law together with other laws on money transfers in place, all illegal money dealers will be wiped out of the market.
The association is focusing on building capacity among operators by training members and helping them to adopt standard machinery to ease reporting and supervision. The association will work with Bank of Uganda to ensure perfect supervision as well as getting data on foreign exchange and money transactions for proper planning.
‘We shall also sensitize the public on the importance of disclosing information about the sources and purpose of the foreign exchange they sell and buy and the money they transfer abroad, “he says
He emphasized that since the bureaus will be supervised by the Central Bank, the public is protected.
At the moment, & forex bureaus have been licensed to carry out money transfers while many more are still applying for the license; consequently the forex industry continues to grow and stabilize.
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