TIRANA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Albania (BoA), central bank, said on Monday that it had prepared new draft regulations aimed at strengthening the governance of banks and the independence of the control structures.
"The regulation on the internal control system proposes that the chairman of the Audit Committee within the bank is also a member of the Steering Council," the central bank said in a press release.
BoA noted that in order to prevent conflicts of interest, this official should not have a private interest relationship with the bank's shareholders or executives.
Meanwhile, the bank said that the members of the Audit Committee might be members of the Steering Committee at the same time, but this would not be mandatory, as in the case of the chairman.
The Bank of Albania also informed that it had proposed several amendments to the regulation on the basic principles of bank management and the appointment of their administrators.
"Changes in the regulation focus mainly on strengthening the independence and importance of the risk management unit within the bank," the bank explained.
"Meanwhile, among the criteria for the appointment of bank administrators, apart from those of ethical and professional nature, a special provision is added: banks must prove that the proposed administrator has no problems with loans," the proposed draft cited.
