Self-custodial wallet / non-custodial software in Gabon

BEAC Instruction n° 001/GR/2021 defines the operating procedures of the Centrale des Incidents de Paiement and carries no crypto-asset provision, and BEAC has issued no instruction banning crypto-assets in the CEMAC zone; the CEMAC measure on crypto-assets is Décision COBAC D-2022/071 du 6 mai 2022, which binds only institutions supervised by COBAC.

Custody of digital assets for third parties is a licensed activity in Gabon: article 160 of Règlement n° 01/22/CEMAC/UMAC/CM/COSUMAF du 21 juillet 2022 places prestation de services sur actifs numériques under the COSUMAF regime, article 1 of the Règlement Général COSUMAF du 23 mai 2023 defines the prestataire de services sur actifs numériques by reference to conservation d'actifs numériques, and article 42 of Règlement n° 02/24/CEMAC/UMAC/CM du 20 décembre 2024 forbids carrying on virtual-asset service activity without prior agrément; COSUMAF has issued no PSAN agrément to date.

The absence of specific regulations, leading to a legal grey area.

The potential for future regulatory changes, which could include outright bans, strict licensing, or a more facilitative framework.

CENAREF Website: While CENAREF's website might not specifically mention "virtual assets" or "VASPs" in its publicly available texts, it is responsible for implementing AML/CFT laws that are generally aligned with FATF recommendations.

General Principle: If virtual asset service providers (including custodians) were to be explicitly recognized and regulated, they would fall under CENAREF's oversight for AML/CFT purposes. However, without specific designation, the practical application to crypto businesses remains a challenge.

CEMAC law recognises a single undifferentiated jeton, defined at article 1 of the Règlement Général COSUMAF du 23 mai 2023 as an intangible asset representing one or more rights in digital form issued, recorded, held or transferred through a dispositif d'enregistrement électronique partagé, and it creates no category of jeton d'investissement resting on a 2000 instrument on the harmonisation of financial instruments; article 76 of Règlement n° 01/22/CEMAC/UMAC/CM/COSUMAF du 21 juillet 2022 instead brings jetons numériques within the appel public à l'épargne regime.

CEMAC law contains no category of jeton de paiement and gives BEAC no licensing role over tokens: monnaie électronique under Règlement n° 04/18/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC du 21 décembre 2018 is monetary value stored electronically representing a claim on the issuing establishment, which a crypto-asset does not create, and it is COBAC that licenses and supervises electronic-money issuers and payment institutions while BEAC approves payment-system solutions.

The Règlement Général COSUMAF du 23 mai 2023 defines jeton functionally without distinguishing utility tokens from other tokens, so no CEMAC text states that jetons d'usage fall outside the definition of financial instruments; every jeton offered to the public engages the appel public à l'épargne regime of article 76 of Règlement n° 01/22/CEMAC/UMAC/CM/COSUMAF and articles 125 to 163 of the Règlement Général.

A public offering of jetons numériques in Gabon does require COSUMAF clearance, but not under any article 5: article 76 of Règlement n° 01/22/CEMAC/UMAC/CM/COSUMAF du 21 juillet 2022 applies the appel public à l'épargne regime to jetons numériques, and the procedure sits at articles 125 to 163 of the Règlement Général COSUMAF du 23 mai 2023, with the visa granted at articles 150 to 161.

Règlement n° 01/16-CEMAC-UMAC-CM du 11 avril 2016 governed AML/CFT in Gabon until the UMAC Ministerial Committee adopted Règlement n° 02/24/CEMAC/UMAC/CM at Libreville on 20 December 2024; the 2024 règlement supersedes it, defines actif virtuel and PSAV at article 2, lists PSAV among the assujettis at article 6 and requires prior agrément plus a virtual-asset travel rule at article 42.

Note: While this regulation predates FATF's specific guidance on virtual assets (Recommendation 15 and its Interpretative Note from 2018), its broad scope often means VASPs are expected to comply as "financial institutions" or similar entities if they perform functions akin to traditional financial services.

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

Conduct ongoing due diligence on the business relationship and scrutiny of transactions undertaken throughout the course of that relationship to ensure that the transactions are consistent with the VASP's knowledge of the customer, their business, and risk profile.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): Apply EDD in situations identified as higher risk, including:

Obligation to Report: Any VASP that suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that funds (fiat or virtual assets) are the proceeds of a criminal activity, or are related to terrorist financing, must report its suspicions.

Article 39 of Règlement n° 02/24/CEMAC/UMAC/CM requires obliged entities in Gabon, including virtual-asset service providers, to keep customer identification documents and transaction records for a minimum of ten years after the account is closed or the business relationship ends, not five years.