A bad wind is blowing in the banking sector of the sub-region where a dozen banks operating in the countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) as well as a dozen social leaders have been sanctioned by the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) for non-compliance with certain obligations and serious breaches in the fight against money laundering.

The decisions taken by the regulator come at the end of the disciplinary sessions held in virtual mode in August under the chairmanship of the governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), Abbas Mahamat Tolli, also chairman of the said commission. . Based on the sanctions imposed, it appears that Cameroon, the economic powerhouse of the sub-region with more than 40% of CEMAC's gross domestic product (GDP) is the most affected with 9 banks, 2 of which have received the blame on the 12 sanctioned savings and credit institutions.

The policeman of the banking sector in Central Africa has had a heavy hand against some bank executives who are getting away with heavy sanctions, including the chairman of the board of directors, the managing director and the deputy managing director of Banque Atlantique Cameroon (BAC) blamed for non-compliance with an injunction. The chairman and members of the board of directors were dismissed from their posts for "serious breaches of regulations relating to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism".

Likewise, the chairman of the board of directors and the general manager of Crédit communautaire d'Afrique (CCA) received a reprimand for lack of prior authorization while the provisional administrator of the National Financial Credit (NFC), received a warning for "lack of vigilance in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism".

The other savings and credit institutions in this case, Apesa Fund, C4ED, Sofin Gie, CCEC, CEC, Sofined have each received a reprimand for "non-compliance with regulatory obligations to alert the general secretariat of COBAC and to communicate to it any report sent to the executive or deliberative bodies, ”the regulator said in a press release.

The other three banks in the sub-region sanctioned by the COBAC are the Congolaise des Banques which received a warning for non-compliance with an injunction, the Banque de l'Habitat du Tchad, blamed for failure to comply with an injunction and the Gabonese Automobile Credit Company, which received a warning for non-compliance with injunctions and persistent breaches of prudential regulations.