A delegation of the National Bank of Angola (BNA) headed by Governor Valter Duarte da Silva was recently in Paris for meetings with the Bank of France and other French banking system institutions, to strength institutional relations and raise awareness in the French financial sector for the reform of the regulatory and banking supervision framework in Angola.

Through the BNA, Angola has developed a very strong effort to quickly adapt its financial system to international prudential standards and good practices with the objective of restoring international credibility and confidence in the Angolan financial system, aiming its recognition abroad by their counterparts.

BNA has been imposing on Angolan commercial banks the adoption of best practices in financial regulation and supervision, and as a result of this effort seven of the largest banks operating in Angola have already adopted International Accounting and Reporting Financial Statements Standards.

"Our expectation is that the European Central Bank and the United States Federal Reserve will recognize the National Bank of Angola as an entity of equivalence in banking regulation and supervision in the first half of this year," said Valter Duarte Silva.

The Angolan visit to the French capital is part of a program of contacts and visits of the BNA to the world's financial centres.

The BNA has developed several contacts with international institutions and counterparts such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve of the United States, the Bank of England, the Bank of France, the Bank of Italy, the Bank of Portugal And the Reserve Bank of South Africa in order to adapt to good banking supervision practices in Europe and the United States, and to show what has already been done in Angola, as well as to train its technicians and senior management.

"Our work has been developed in partnership with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and in close collaboration with the central banks of Portugal, South Africa, Italy, the United Kingdom, France and the United States of America, with which we have already established protocols for training human resources and for technical assistance," said the governor of the BNA.

The Angolan delegation has held meetings at the highest level with the Governor of the Bank of France, Mr. François Villeroy Galhau, and with representatives of French banks such as BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Natixis, as well as institutions such as the French Banking Federation, MEDEF International, The International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Paris Club.

(Source: jlma.pt)