Banking (Victoria Falls International Financial Services Centre) (Payment Systems Settlement) Regulations, 2026

The Minister of Finance has made regulations on designating payment systems in the Victoria Falls International Financial Services Centre, aimed at a sound and efficient financial system there and at limiting the damage if a participant fails.

A payment system operator applies to the Centre with its rules and a fee. The Centre may designate the system, naming the documents that contain its rules, a designated contact and any conditions. It may later vary or revoke a designation, normally after giving the contact notice and a chance to make submissions.

Once designated, the system's rules on payment instructions, calculations, settlement, netting, collateral and default are valid and enforceable despite any other law. Secured parties' claims to collateral rank ahead of all other claims unless the collateral terms say otherwise. Settlements and the provision or enforcement of collateral cannot be reversed, repaid or set aside, and claims and accounts under the rules cannot be attached, charged or seized unless the rules allow it — including through insolvency or debt recovery proceedings from outside the Centre. The protection does not cover a settlement made after insolvency proceedings began against a participant if the designated contact knew, or should reasonably have known, of them. The underlying transactions remain subject to the ordinary law, and fraud claims can still be pursued.

Participants must tell the designated contact promptly of insolvency proceedings against themselves or participants they settle for, and the contact must tell the Centre. The Centre may demand information and fine anyone who fails to provide it, share information with the Reserve Bank and foreign regulators, and make rules with the Minister's approval after publishing them for at least 30 days of comment. It must give written reasons for decisions, and is not liable for acts done in good faith. Rights in securities held as collateral are governed by the law of the place where the register or account is kept.