On 3 November 2026, the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) announced that its Chairman had issued a circular directing entities in the non-banking financial sector to update their know-your-customer (KYC) and identity verification forms. The circular follows the updated customer due diligence procedures for financial institutions supervised by the FRA, issued in September by Egypt's Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit (EMLCU).
Institutions must design updated KYC and ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) forms that serve People of Determination, clients who cannot read and write, and senior citizens. The FRA also stresses that supervised entities must keep their policy manuals, internal procedures and control systems up to date.
Under Circular No. 8 of 2026, the EMLCU's updated due diligence standards must be applied across the application forms for all products and services. Approved copies of the updated policy manuals and internal control frameworks must be submitted with the annual anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) activity report for fiscal year 2026, with a final deadline of 31 January 2027.
According to the FRA, the circular aims to accelerate AML/CFT compliance, simplify transactions, extend coverage to all client categories and verify the authenticity of client data. It forms part of the FRA's wider focus on AML/CFT controls in capital markets, insurance and non-bank financing, alongside Circular No. 5 of 2026 issued in September and recent decisions on digital identity verification in consumer finance and micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) finance.