Financial institutions and intermediaries may now be inspected or investigated by both NAMFISA officials and external inspectors, under new rules that formalise who can carry out regulatory inspections and how they must be authorised.
The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) has issued Standard GEN.S.10.29 under the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA), setting out appointment and certification requirements for inspectors and people assisting them.
In practical terms, the standard means that an inspector arriving at a financial institution must have formal certification showing the authority under which they are acting. Where the inspector is not a NAMFISA employee, the certificate must identify the institution, intermediary or person being inspected or investigated and specify the period for which the appointment is valid.
The standard does not, based on the information provided, introduce a new general power to inspect institutions. Rather, it sets out the certification framework for inspectors appointed under section 419 of FIMA and clarifies how those appointments must be documented.
NAMFISA employees appointed as inspectors under section 419(1) will receive certificates confirming their appointment and authorising them to exercise the powers, perform the functions and discharge the duties assigned to inspectors under FIMA and its subordinate instruments.
The framework also allows NAMFISA to appoint inspectors who are not employees of the authority. This means an institution undergoing an inspection or investigation could encounter an externally appointed inspector rather than a NAMFISA staff member.
However, an external inspector’s authority is tied to the institution, intermediary or person identified on the certificate and to the specified appointment period, unless NAMFISA withdraws or extends the appointment.
The standard further provides for people to be appointed to assist inspectors. Their certificates must state which inspector they are assisting and identify the institution, intermediary or person involved in the inspection or investigation.
Standard GEN.S.10.29 was published in Government Gazette No. 9027 on 15 September 2026 and came into effect on the same day. NAMFISA said it was issued on an urgent basis under section 409(1), read with section 409(4), of FIMA.
Despite already being in force, the standard remains open to industry representations. NAMFISA has invited financial institutions, financial intermediaries, industry associations and self-regulatory organisations to submit comments by 22 October 2026.
The regulator said submissions could result in the standard being amended.
“Such representations will be taken into account in determining whether to re-issue the Standard as originally published or in a modified form,” the gazette states.
NAMFISA also urged stakeholders affected by FIMA’s implementation to review the gazetted subordinate legislation published on its regulatory frameworks page.
