First licence falls before the law even passes

Published analysis

Read the full article on Maldives News: First licence falls before the law even passes

Standfirst. The MMA revoked Express Money Exchange’s licence before the Majlis votes on dollar fines. What still stands, and what changes.

Key facts

The MMA revoked the licence of Express Money Exchange Private Limited for breaching foreign exchange regulations, reported early on Friday 21 August by Sun and Mihaaru: the first named enforcement action of the dollar crackdown.
The company held a Tier 1 money-changing licence issued 14 April 2024 and valid to 2031; the MMA gave no specifics on the breaches and stated no redress route for customers.
The Foreign Currency bill fines are not law yet: individuals face proposed MVR 25,000 to 1m for selling above the MMA rate and MVR 25,000 to 500,000 for advertising a rate; the company ceiling is disputed between MVR 4m (Mihaaru, Adhadhu) and MVR 5m (Edition, Maldives Independent).
The parallel rate stood around MVR 22.85 against the official 15.42 (roughly a 48 percent premium), per Maldives Independent’s 20 August analysis; the official rate has not moved since 2011.
On supply, the MMA raised banks’ weekly dollar allocation 51 percent, from about USD 5m to USD 7m for three weeks, and plans to lift the reserve requirement from 10.5 to 11 percent, then 13 percent by December 2027.
The Majlis voted 58-0 on 18 August to extend its session to 27 August, the runway for a floor vote on the bill.