the securities industry. This process laid the groundwork for the automation of the securities exchange in Uganda, which is underway. 2.3.6 The CMA has carried out a self-assessment against the IOSCO principles for purposes of becoming a signatory to IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) for co-operation and exchange of information. 2.3.7 Government has put in place various forms of incentives for encouraging regulated financial institutions to offer banking services to rural areas. A policy and legal framework for regulating the activities of Micro-finance institutions has been developed, and includes: The SACCOs Bill and the Micro-credit Bill. Resources have also been provided in the budget for supporting the formation of at least one SACCO in every sub-county and strengthening existing ones to provide training and other technical support. The Rural Financial Services Programme (RFSP) was redesigned to support SACCOs. The Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union (UCSCU) supported the formation of 140 SACCOs and the development of 401 SACCOs in 541 sub-counties countrywide. 2.3.8 The Ugandan Securities Exchange has re-launched its Alternative Investments Markets Segment aimed at high growth Small and Medium Enterprises and initiated a programme to identify and assist through training and capacity building Small and Medium Scale Enterprises for potential listing on this segment. 2.3.9 The Government also made progress in enhancing the capacity of regulatory, supervisory and enforcement bodies such as the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to fulfil their respective mandates, especially in the areas of the environment and consumer protection. NEMA carried out sensitisation, education and awareness on environment management. It also carried out inspections and audits, where enforcement of compliance to environmental standards was undertaken. UNBS carried out sensitisation, education and awareness on standards, quality assurance, laboratory testing and metrology. It has developed guidelines and standards for Uganda titled: „Guiding Policies and Principles for the Technical Work in the preparation of Uganda Standards‟, which are supposed to be followed by all ministries, departments and agencies.

Select target paragraph3