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The signature requirements pertain the legal or contractual requirements in order to make a legally effective declaration of intent or a legally binding contract.
Possibility to replace a specific formal requirement of making a binding declaration of intention
There is nothing that can replace a written contract in Egypt. The Egyptian legislation does not necessitate a special format for contracts. However, it necessitates that the contract needs to be written and consist of the basic requirements of contracts, such as legal capacity, offer, acceptance, consideration, and intention to create legal consequences.
However, the new non-banking FinTech law introduced the digital contract and defined it. The law also mentioned that FRA shall issue a decree enabling the conclusion and performance of such digital contracts.
Presence of any specific formal requirements to effectively conclude a loan agreement
There are no formal requirements to conclude a loan agreement. Practically speaking, the loan agreement must be made in writing between the parties.
Process of conclusion of a contract by using a qualified electronic signature in practice
E-signature is permitted to be used in Egypt. However, there are several conditions that need to be met according to the E-signature law no 15 of year 2004 in order to obtain an E-signature: 1) Linkage of the electronic signature exclusively with the signer; 2) Control of the signer exclusively on the electronic medium; and 3) The possibility of uncovering any modification or replacement in the data of the electronic document or electronic signature.
Legal consequences to a contract in case of not fulfilling formal requirements
The contract is void.
Usual practice of signing contractual agreements in the B2B sector
They are still signed in written form.
Usual practice of signing contractual agreements in the B2C sector
Almost all contracts must be concluded with a handwritten signature. However, when it comes to B2C, when a consumer is willing to use a certain service via the internet, they read the terms and conditions as well as the privacy policy and they tick that they agree to abide by them. This is usually how B2C works in Egypt.