The Approval Granting Phase

Verification of the conditions for granting the approval:

The microfinance institutions operate on the basis of approval granted by the Minister of Finance based on a report of the Microfinance Supervisory Authority. According to Article 12 of the Decree-Law No. 2011-117 of November 5, 2011 organizing the activity of the microfinance institutions, the granting of approval to the microfinance institutions is subordinated to the satisfaction of the following conditions:

• Its statutes shall provide that its sole purpose is the granting of microcredits and the exercise of the other activities provided for by the decree-law herein,
• Its human, technical and financial means are sufficient for the realization of its object,
• Its work program shall include the zones of its interventions, the resources, the activity of granting of the credits and other operations related to the granting of credit,
• Its work program over five years, shall be compatible with the state of saturation of the market and with the national, regional and local programs in the economic and social field. The said work program shall give a report on the financial sustainability of the micro finance institution,

The release of the minimum capital of three million dinars (3.000,000 dinars) for a public limited company or the payment of the minimum associative endowment of fifty thousand dinars, according to the change following the promulgation of law n ° 2014- 46 of July 24, 2014, amending the Decree-Law No. 2011-117 of November 5, 2011 , organizing the activity of the microfinance institutions. The Approval is also granted to the microfinance institutions taking into account the quality of the contributors of capital and if necessary their guarantors, as well as the reputation and competence of its leaders.

Is submitted to the Approval:

• Any operation of merger between institutions of microfinance or subsidiaries,
• Any acquisition, direct or indirect, by one or more persons, of capital shares of a microfinance institution likely to involve the control of this one and in all the cases any operation of which it results the acquisition of the tenth, the fifth, the third or the half or the two thirds of the voting rights,
• Any reduction of the capital or the associative endowment; Any operation of which it may result a transfer of a significant part of the assets of a microfinance institution, which may cause a change in the financial structure or the orientation of its activity.

Examination of the Approval Application:

The approval application is addressed to the Microfinance Supervisory Authority, which proceeds to its examination. To this end, it may request all the information and the documents which it considers necessary. The approval decision is made within a deadline of four months as from the date of communication of all the required information’s. The Microfinance Supervisory Authority has the responsibility to notify to the interested in writing the decision of the Minister of Finance concerning the approval application.

The application should include the following documents:

The Minister of Finance gives an agreement in principle to grant a license on the basis of a report from the Microfinance Supervisory Authority and grants the Approval after:

• Payment of at least the minimum associative endowment for microfinance institutions in the form of associations,
• Presentation of a copy from the commercial register, a copy of the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia containing the notice of incorporation of the company, the certificate of subscription of capital and the release of at least the minimum capital for microfinance institutions incorporated as limited companies,
• Visit of the premises by the delegates of the Microfinance Supervisory Authority.