CBS implements digital signature |14 April 2020
The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) is now implementing the use of digital signatures in the issuing of its official communications, including for the signing of emails and corporate documents.
This follows the approval of the Digital Signature Policy by the CBS Board in November 2018. Subsequently, the institution submitted the necessary requirements, including details of its Certificate Authority – that is the provider of the digital signature technology – for evaluation and validation. The submission was made to the Office of the Controller of Certifying Authorities, which falls under the Department of Information & Communications Technology (DICT).
The corresponding notification that the Certificate Authority being used by CBS, DocuSign, has satisfied the expected requirements and is compliant with the provisions of the Electronic Transactions (Affixing Digital Signatures) Regulations, 2018, was published in the Official Gazette in October last year. This is in accordance with the Electronic Transactions Act 2001.
The use of digital signatures was initially being implemented internally. The full implementation of the digital signature technology, particularly with regard to external communications, has now been accelerated, in view of the COVID-19 situation currently impacting on the operational aspects of the CBS. Compliance to the provisions of the Digital Signature Policy in place will safeguard the integrity and authenticity of these communications.
In light of measures taken by the department of health to restrict movement of people within the country, hence reduced face-to-face interactions, CBS is also advising the public that it is currently not accepting physical copies of documents. All documents addressed to CBS are to be submitted electronically. Documents related to COVID-19 measures can be submitted through info@cbs.sc and those general in nature pertaining to any of the functions of the institution can be submitted through enquiries@cbs.sc.
Contributed by the CBS