SBP digitalises process for banking policy regulatory approvals

KARACHI: Building upon its initiative of end-to-end digitalisation of the regulatory approval process, known as the Regulatory Approval System (RAS), a statement said on Monday.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has now achieved another milestone by launching a module pertaining to the banking policy and regulations.

With the launch of this module in RAS, the banks, development finance institutions (DFIs) and microfinance banks (MFBs) can now submit their request letters/proposals on a dedicated online portal to the SBP’s Banking Policy and Regulations Department; whereby, the SBP, after digitally processing them, would also be in a position to disseminate the regulatory decisions to them through the same portal.

Earlier in October 2020, SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir had launched the SBP FX RAS for end-to-end digitalisation of foreign exchange-related case submission process. The system turned out to be a huge success, as it enabled the customers to lodge their forex-related requests from the location of their convenience; thereby, sparing their valuable time previously spent in navigating the paper-based processes. It also enabled the banks to submit forex-related cases electronically for regulatory approval of the SBP and the SBP-Banking Services Corporation.

Implementation of RAS for the banking policy and regulation-related issues will be effective from November 24, 2021. It will enable the banks, DFIs and MFBs to digitally submit their requests and receive regulatory decisions through a single window.

Nevertheless, in addition to online submission, the banks, DFIs and MFBs would also continue with the manual submission of their cases that will cease after a brief transitory period till December 31, 2021.

The implementation of the SBP’s RAS is expected to conserve precious resources, contribute towards the SBP’s green banking initiative and bring efficiency in the communication between the banking sector and the SBP.

Moreover, this arrangement will also replace the paper-based submissions that are prone to logistic and storage issues, and cause inadvertent and unnecessary delays for the relevant stakeholders.

RAS is a regulatory initiative under the central bank’s Vision 2020, aiming at the digital flow of information among the stakeholders to improve the service standards through leveraging upon digital techniques.