Bad times for Moroccan banks in Europe
Moroccan banks established within the European Union face several challenges. One of them concerns the support activities they have been carrying out for decades, with full transparency and in accordance with European regulations.
These latter include an unprecedented tightening of working conditions. Indeed, monetary authorities in the countries of the Old Continent have decided to suspend the intermediation activities carried out by the banking subsidiaries established in Europe on behalf of the Moroccan parent banks. In this context, the draft directive, submitted to the European Parliament and Council, intends to toughen the conditions of the ‘‘Moroccan relays of the world’’ activity, underlined the Minister of Economy and Finance during the last question time session before the House of Councillors. It should be noted that this ‘‘Moroccan Relays of the World’’ activity has been created for decades, in favor of Moroccans residing abroad to present requests for opening and activating accounts in the country of origin, which facilitates the transfer of solidarity aid to their families residing in Morocco and the development of resources and loans in the different regions of the country, said Minister Nadia Fettah.
In any case, Article 21 of the draft directive stipulates that foreign banks not established in the EU are prohibited from providing banking services from the country of origin directly to their customers residing in one of the countries of the EU, except to request services in the opposite direction. Nadia Fettah clarified that if the version of this directive is adopted by the EU, it will put an end to the historical support provided to Moroccans of the diaspora by Moroccan banks in the countries of origin because no proactive approach of this community will be permitted, she said. A month ago, the governor of Morocco’s central bank raised the issue. Indeed, Abdellatif Jouahri underlined the need to take diplomatic measures to widen the alert in the face of these worrying developments. It is a matter of preserving the achievements and the links forged with the mother country, in particular with the latest generations of immigrants on European soil.
Mohamed CHAOUI
