The Parliament of Zambia’s Bank of Zambia Act of 1996 repeals the previous Act of 1985 and the Currency Act. Further, the act revises the law relating to the composition, duties, and powers of the Bank of Zambia and its Board. Bank of Zambia Act, No 43 of 1996 is an important document for Banking because the Act is the law passed by Parliament to regulate Zambia’s chartered banks and financial system.
The Bank of Zambia’s Act has the following main goals which include: protecting depositors’ funds; ensuring the maintenance of cash reserves and promoting the efficiency and prudence of the financial system through competition while adhering to government policies.
This document may be cited as “” and helps functions of commercial Banks in Zambia which include accepting deposits, granting loans, advances, cash, credit, assets, overdraft, and discounting of bills. These include the most important Secondary functions like issuing letters of credit, undertaking safe custody of valuables, providing consumer finance, educational loans, etc.
In addition, the act revises and consolidates the law relating to the issuance of the currency of the Republic and the formulation and implementation of a monetary policy that will ensure the maintenance of price stability, and provides for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.
The Act for BOZ is divided into several topics and sections:
| 1. Topic | Bank of Zambia policy, regulations, and guidelines |
| 2. Topic | The banking system and administration |
| 3. Topic | Monetary Units, Notes, and Coins |
| 4. Topic | The Bank’s Relations with Banks and Financial Institutions |
| 5. Topic | International. Reserve and Foreign Exchange Operations |
| 6. Topic | The Bank’s Relations with Government |
Specifically, the Zambian financial banking services industry comprises several key sub-segments. These include, but are not limited to mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, stockbrokers, and financial advisory companies, including commercial banks regulated by No 43 of the 1996 Bank of Zambia Act.