Tonga's National Reserve Bank is moving to enforce the Moneylenders Act by registering all businesses who are conducting lending services in Tonga. The deadline for registration closed on Friday, January 29 and the NRBT said moneylenders who had not registered in time may face legal action.

The NRBT also has the power to grant exemptions from the Moneylenders Act, where applicable.

The Act allows for fines of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for offenders convicted under the act.

In addition, any person or business identified to be conducting moneylending business who have yet to contact the Reserve Bank to obtain a valid license after January 29 commits an offence, said the bank.

“Pursuant to section 20 of the Act, all moneylending contracts entered into by a person or business without a valid license by the end of January 2021 will be deemed unenforceable,” the NRBT stated.

However, the bank has not released the total numbers of businesses  and moneylenders who had registered before the deadline ended on January 29.