Amended financial, property laws: Updated legislations game-changer for business growth – GCCI

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has lauded the Government of Guyana for its “bold and timely legislative” initiatives aimed at enhancing the country’s business and economic landscape.
Among the most notable reforms are the introduction of the Financial Institutions Amendment Bill of 2024, the Security Interests in Moveable Property Act, and the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes (Amendment) Act—measures that the Chamber believes are critical in positioning Guyana for sustained growth and development.
According to GCCI, as the country experiences an unprecedented surge in investment interest, the need for a well-regulated financial sector has never been more apparent.
The passage of the Financial Institutions Amendment Act, which will allow foreign financial institutions to establish representative offices in Guyana, comes as the country is witnessing an influx of both local and international investments.
With an increasing demand for access to capital, the Chamber recognises that these legislative changes will provide the much-needed structure to support the growing financial sector.
In a statement on Tuesday, GCCI related that “the Chamber, as a proponent of the development of businesses— particularly Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME), has also long advocated for increased access to finance for small-scale businesses…This legislation is anticipated to be a catalyst for the development of enterprises in Guyana and a driver of economic growth”.
Meanwhile, the recent introduction of the Security Interests in Moveable Property Act promises to be a game-changer. The Act allows businesses to leverage moveable assets—ranging from vehicles, equipment, and inventory to crops, livestock, and even intellectual property—as collateral to access credit. This, according to the GCCI, is a much-needed boost for enterprises that have often struggled to secure financing under the traditional collateral models.
In addition to these financial reforms, the GCCI has expressed its approval of the recent amendments to the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes Bill. These amendments aim to streamline the process of acquiring land for public development projects while ensuring that landowners are treated fairly and receive timely, adequate compensation. The Chamber believes this aligns with international best practices, ensuring that citizens are not unduly burdened in the pursuit of national development.
On Monday, during the 101st sitting of the 12th Parliament Senior Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh further emphasised that the country’s robust regulatory framework has been developed over the years to ensure the stability and transparency of the financial sector.
“I make these points really to say, Mr Speaker, that the effort to build a strong and robust and well-regulated financial sector has not been an effort of yesterday, it has been an effort that has involved work, including work in previous sessions of this House, previous parliaments of Guyana, work to ensure that we have a robust legal architecture in place. And beneath that, or within that, having legislated, we have, of course, also been establishing and progressively strengthening the institutions tasked with the respective mandates granted under the legislation” Dr Singh said.
Moreover, Singh told the National Assembly that Government has already revealed several expressions of interest from foreign financial institutions to establish representative offices in Guyana, supported by the introduction of Section 19A Financial Institutions Amendment Bill of 2024.
Nevertheless, he explained that all foreign financial institutions would be subject to approval by the Central Bank of Guyana.
“We see this as an extremely welcomed step. It is a first step to the establishment of a full presence. It allows them to acquaint themselves with the Guyanese economic landscape in a more direct manner. It allows them potentially to identify opportunities for doing business in Guyana, and explore those opportunities. Be that as it may, they are subject, of course, to an initial round of regulatory supervision, because they still require, as this section provides, they still require the approval of the Central Bank before they are able to establish this presence. And were they to establish a full presence, they would require a full-service licence from the Central Bank and those provisions remain intact and unaffected by the current Bill,” he added.