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2024 will mark the entry into force of the new banking regulations in the WAEMU area and the repeal of Act No. 2008-26 of 28 July 2008 on banking regulations in Senegal. This new law will apply to banks, credit institutions and, from now on, payment institutions, electronic money institutions and bank holding companies operating in Senegal, regardless of their legal form, the location of their registered office or main establishment in the UEMOA and the nationality of the holders of their share capital or their directors.
The new text thus (a) revitalises a banking sector whose development is faced with the rise of new risks linked, among other things, to the growth of cybercrime, financial crime, money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and (b) reaffirms the banking monopoly dear to the UEMOA zone. On this point, the Community legislator has introduced several derogations to the banking monopoly by allowing microfinance institutions and Fin Tech to carry out banking operations, financial companies and multilateral development banks to operate without prior authorisation, and any legal entity eligible for the Financial Innovation Laboratory to carry out one or more banking operations in a test environment.
This new law excludes from its scope a certain number of entities that are not subject to the law, including microfinance institutions, international financial institutions and foreign public aid or cooperation institutions whose activities on Senegalese territory are authorised by international treaties, agreements or conventions to which Senegal is a party.
The bill also specifies that only authorised institutions are permitted to carry out banking transactions (receiving funds from the public, credit transactions and making funds available to customers or managing means of payment). The new law is due to come into force in Senegal in the very near future, and will be supplemented by a number of implementing regulations.