Bank Al-Maghrib: Steering the Evolution of Payments in Morocco

Posted on Feb 22, 2022 by Hakima El Alami, Head of Oversight of Payment Systems and Means and Financial Inclusion Division and Adil Zbir, Head of Market Infrastructures Oversight Unit, Bank Al-Maghrib

I: National FMIs Oversight Framework and Mitigation of Emerging Risks Related to Cybersecurity

Financial market infrastructures (FMIs) in Morocco evolve around several systems:

  • An interbank large-amount payment system: SRBM (Moroccan Gross Settlement System);
  • Three retail payment systems: the electronic payment switch, which processes cards transactions and the mobile Switch dedicated to electronic wallets (M-Wallet). The two switches are operated by the private company HPSS. As for the SIMT (Moroccan Interbank Remote Clearing System), it covers the exchange of cashless payment instruments excluding cards;
  • Two systems dedicated to securities clearing settlement/ delivery: Casablanca Stock Exchange deals with the clearing of listed securities and Maroclear manages the central depository and the settlement/ delivery of securities.

Bank Al-Maghrib has been implementing the first international principles for FMIs since the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued them in 2001. In 2019, an oversight framework with four main axes that recalled the Bank's fundamental mission in this area was put in place, as detailed below ...


Read more in the CBPN Members' Library with your annual subscription.

No part of Central Bank Payments News may be reproduced, copied, republished, or distributed in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without the express and prior written permission of the publisher, Currency Research Malta, Ltd.