Regulatory Alerts2024-09-01
Regulation on the Dematerialization and Automated Processing of Cheques
The Bank of the Republic of Burundi issued Regulation No. 001 to mandate the dematerialization and automated processing of cheques across all Burundian banking institutions. The regulation establishes a mandatory electronic clearing system that requires presenting and drawn banks to capture, transmit, and archive grayscale and ultraviolet cheque images alongside MICR strip data, while defining their respective obligations, security standards, and a ten-year retention period for both physical and electronic records. It further standardizes cheque validation procedures, sets ceiling amounts, designates the central bank as the clearing supervisor and archive operator, and ensures legal admissibility of electronic cheque images in judicial proceedings.