MMA Fines MS Finance Currency Exchange MVR500,000 and Suspends Its Licence
The central bank said the money changer broke the regulation on money-changing businesses. It is the second money changer MMA has announced action against since August.
The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) fined MS Finance Currency Exchange MVR500,000 on 18 October and suspended its money-changing licence the same day, for breaching the regulation on money-changing businesses.
The central bank said in a press release, issued in Dhivehi, that it had imposed the fine as a supervisory measure. It said licence number 20250502T1MCL13, issued to MS Finance Currency Exchange Pvt Ltd, had been suspended from that day.
The release does not say which provisions the company breached, what transactions were involved or how long the suspension will last.
MMA urged all parties to follow the law and regulations when buying and selling foreign currency. It said it would continue to take action against those who breach the rules, together with law enforcement agencies.
One of 59 Licensed Changers
MS Finance was second on the list of 59 authorised money changers that MMA published on 9 September. The list gives its previous licence number as CB-1115.
MMA published the list with a warning that some parties were buying and selling foreign currency without a licence. The Foreign Currency Act (Law 32/2024) and the money-changing regulation require a licence from MMA to run a money-changing business, and the central bank said trading without one is an offence.
It asked the public to check that any party other than a bank they deal with for foreign currency holds a licence.
Earlier Actions
On 20 August, MMA cancelled the licence of Express Money Exchange Pvt Ltd for breaching the same regulation. It said the breach was identified through its supervision of money-exchange businesses.
Three days later, MMA named two resorts, Raha Resort and South Palm Resort Maldives, against which it had taken action under the Foreign Currency Act. It said neither had exchanged any US dollars under category A of the Act. MMA said many resorts were complying with the law’s requirement to exchange foreign currency.
On 12 August, the central bank proposed amendments to the Foreign Currency Act and the National Payment System Act. It said the changes were intended to strengthen the domestic foreign exchange market.
MMA’s data put official reserve assets at US$547.8 million at the end of September, down from US$643.8 million a month earlier, as Maldives Today reported on 15 October.
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