Remote VASP serving residents in Cote d'Ivoire

Règlement n° 06/2024/CM/UEMOA is real (signed at Bamako on 20 December 2024, relatif aux relations financières extérieures des Etats membres de l'UEMOA, applied from 1 August 2025 through 15 BCEAO instructions n°01 to 15/07/2025/RFE), but it is a foreign-exchange/external-settlements instrument and contains no rules on actifs virtuels or crypto-actifs. It does not create any virtual-asset framework. The only virtual-asset rule binding in Côte d'Ivoire is the AML/CFT layer: the UMOA uniform law of 31 March 2023, transposed nationally by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, which defines 'actif virtuel' (art. 2, 2°) and 'prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels' (art. 2, 51°) and makes PSAV assujettis (art. 3, c). No competent authority has been designated, so no licensing regime is operational.

BCEAO's Cautious Stance: The BCEAO has historically adopted a cautious, and at times prohibitive, stance towards cryptocurrencies due to concerns about monetary stability, consumer protection, money laundering, and illicit financing. They have issued warnings to financial institutions and the public about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies.

There is no BCEAO licence category for virtual-asset service providers. BCEAO agrément as an établissement de monnaie électronique (Instruction n°008-05-2015 du 21 mai 2015, art. 8; minimum capital 300,000,000 FCFA, art. 11) or as a payment institution (Instruction n°001-01-2024 du 23 janvier 2024) is required only where the firm actually issues e-money or provides payment services; neither instrument mentions crypto-actifs or actifs virtuels. A crypto exchange as such cannot obtain, and is not required to hold, either licence.

Local presence and management.

Required Registration: Registration with the commercial registry (RCCM - Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier) and relevant tax authorities in Cote d'Ivoire.

Capital requirements (significant).

No Ivorian AML/CFT instrument numbered 'Ordonnance n° 2019-1089 du 18 décembre 2019' or 'Loi n° 2014-393 du 20 juin 2014' exists. Côte d'Ivoire's AML/CFT statutory chain is: Loi n° 2005-554 du 2 décembre 2005 → Loi n° 2016-992 du 14 novembre 2016 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment des capitaux et le financement du terrorisme → Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux, le financement du terrorisme et de la prolifération des armes de destruction massive, which is Côte d'Ivoire's transposition of the UMOA Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP du 31 mars 2023.

Under Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, PSAV (prestataires de services d'actifs virtuels) are named expressly: art. 2(2) defines 'actif virtuel', art. 2(51) defines PSAV — covering exchange virtual-asset/fiat, exchange between virtual assets, transfer, 'conservation et/ou administration d'actifs virtuels' and participation in issuer offers — and art. 3 lists PSAV alongside institutions financières and EPNFD (DNFBPs) as assujettis. VASPs are therefore explicitly named, not swept in by analogy.

Evidence fact ci.aml.identification-and-verification-of-identity not found (may have been renamed).

Correct in substance but imprecise on the threshold: Ordonnance n° 2023-875, art. 2(12), defines the bénéficiaire effectif as the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the client, and for companies as a person holding, directly or indirectly, 'plus de vingt-cinq pour cent du capital' — i.e. *more than* 25%, not '25% or more'. Côte d'Ivoire additionally created a beneficial-ownership register by Loi n° 2024-362 du 11 juin 2024, with access rules set by Décret n° 2024-583 du 26 juin 2024.

Purpose and Nature of the Business Relationship: Understanding the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship or occasional transaction.

Ongoing Monitoring: Conducting ongoing due diligence on the business relationship and scrutinizing transactions undertaken throughout the course of that relationship to ensure that the transactions are consistent with the obliged entity's knowledge of the customer, their business, and risk profile.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): Applying EDD measures in higher-risk situations, including:

Obligation to Report: Obliged entities must report any transaction (or attempted transaction) that they suspect is linked to money laundering or terrorist financing to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Reports are made to the CENTIF (CENTIF-CI), not to 'CELLIF'. The body's name is the Cellule Nationale de Traitement des Informations Financières de Côte d'Ivoire, acronym CENTIF-CI; 'CELLIF' does not exist in Ivorian or UEMOA law or practice.

No Tipping-Off: Obliged entities and their employees are prohibited from disclosing to the customer or to third parties that an STR has been filed or that an investigation is underway.

All customer identification data (e.g., copies of identification documents).

'BCEAO Instruction n° 003/2022/RB du 17 novembre 2022' does not exist. BCEAO instructions are numbered nnn-mm-yyyy (e.g. 008-05-2015, 001-03-2021); the '/RB' form is never used, and the BCEAO instrument index contains no instrument of that number or of that date. No BCEAO instruction brings PSAV into the scope of supervised entities: PSAV are made assujettis by art. 3(c) of the Loi uniforme du 31 mars 2023, transposed in Côte d'Ivoire by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, and art. 59 leaves PSAV-specific requirements to a competent authority that has not been designated.

There is no EUR 1,000 virtual-asset travel-rule threshold in force in Cote d'Ivoire. Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 places the originator/beneficiary information duties in arts. 39-47 on institutions financieres only; art. 2 defines PSAV as a distinct category, and art. 59 defers all PSAV-specific requirements to a competent authority that Cote d'Ivoire has not designated. The threshold figure is also denominated in the wrong currency — UEMOA thresholds are set in FCFA (see Decision n° 021 du 21/12/2023/CM/UMOA on seuils). The EUR 1,000 figure is FATF Recommendation 16 boilerplate, not Ivorian law.

The retention period in Cote d'Ivoire is ten years, not five. Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, art. 23, requires 'conservation pendant une duree de dix ans, a compter de la cloture de leurs comptes ou de la cessation de leurs relations', tracking art. 23 of the UMOA uniform law of 31 March 2023. The five-year figure is the FATF Recommendation 11 minimum, imported instead of the local text.

Administrative sanctions in Cote d'Ivoire are not imposed by CENTIF-CI. CENTIF-CI is the financial intelligence unit and receives declarations de soupcon (Ordonnance n° 2023-875, art. 60); it has no sanctioning power. Administrative and disciplinary sanctions are imposed by the autorite de controle — for banks, compagnies financieres, SFD and etablissements de monnaie electronique this is the Commission Bancaire de l'UMOA, acting through its College de supervision ('sanctions disciplinaires et pecuniaires prononcees par le College de Supervision de la Commission Bancaire de l'UMOA') — and, for other assujettis, by the Commission Nationale des Sanctions LBC/FT established by Ordonnance n° 2022-237 du 30 mars 2022 and Decret n° 2024-58 du 14 fevrier 2024. The BCEAO itself is the central bank, not the sanctioning organ. Critically, no autorite de controle has been designated for PSAV, so none of these ladders is applicable to virtual-asset service providers in practice.

Criminal Sanctions: For severe or repeated breaches, especially those involving intentional facilitation of money laundering or terrorist financing, criminal charges can be brought against individuals (directors, employees) and the entity itself. These can include imprisonment and heavier fines, as defined in the national penal code and AML/CFT law.

Entity Targeted: General public and financial institutions operating within the UEMOA zone (including Côte d'Ivoire). Violation Type: While not a "violation" in the traditional sense, the BCEAO's consistent stance warns against the use, holding, or facilitation of transactions involving cryptocurrencies, emphasizing their speculative nature, lack of regulatory oversight, and potential for fraud and money laundering. It effectively "enforces" a non-recognition policy. Penalty Amount: Not applicable, as this is a general regulatory stance and warning, not a specific penalty against an entity. Outcome: A clear declaration that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender, are not regulated, and pose significant risks. Financial institutions are generally dissuaded from engaging with them. This discourages formal crypto operations.

Outcome: A clear declaration that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender, are not regulated, and pose significant risks. Financial institutions are generally dissuaded from engaging with them. This discourages formal crypto operations.

Evidence fact ci.custody.overall-regulatory-stance-bceao not found (may have been renamed).

There are no specific BCEAO licensing requirements for crypto custody, as cryptocurrencies are not recognized or regulated by the BCEAO. However, entities engaged in activities that intersect with traditional financial services (e.g., handling fiat currency, money transfers, or operating as a bank or payment institution) are subject to existing WAEMU financial licensing requirements, including AML/KYC obligations under the BCEAO's regulatory framework. National-level business licensing (e.g., registration with the Commercial Court in Côte d'Ivoire) also applies.

The BCEAO's regulatory framework does not include specific rules for the segregation of cryptocurrency assets. While BCEAO regulations mandate segregation for fiduciaires in the traditional financial system (e.g., for securities maintained by investment service providers), these regulations explicitly exclude digital assets not recognized as financial instruments. Entities holding crypto assets may still be subject to general consumer protection or business contract laws at the national level in Côte d'Ivoire, but no specific segregation mandate from the BCEAO exists.