Region

Jurisdiction

Regulator

2015-02-17

Regulation 014 on Bank Codes and Standardization of Bank Account Details

The Central Bank of the Comoros issued Regulation 014/2015 to standardize bank account identification by mandating the use of the Bank Account Details (RIB) for domestic transfers and the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) for international transfers. The regulation defines the specific structure and calculation methods for these identifiers, assigns unique five-digit bank codes to credit institutions, and encourages the adoption of SWIFT BIC codes for international operations. Credit establishments are required to inform clients about these standards and must strictly process transfers based on the specified RIB and IBAN formats starting from October 1, 2015.

Comoros

Banque Centrale des Comores

CENTRAL BANK OF THE COMOROS

REGULATION No. 14 /2015/BCC/DSBR

ON THE ASSIGNMENT OF BANK CODES AND STANDARDIZATION OF BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS

Having regard to the Statutes of the Central Bank of the Comoros,

Having regard to Law No. 13-003/AU of June 12, 2013, regulating the activities of Financial Institutions, specifically Article 103,

Considering the need to standardize and modernize payment instruments and means,

THE GOVERNOR OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE COMOROS

Sets the rules relating to the standardization of the Bank Account Details (RIB)

ARTICLE 1: Bank Codes

The Central Bank of the Comores assigns to each credit institution a five-digit number corresponding to its "Bank Code."

The following codes are currently assigned:

Central Bank of the Comoros 00099
Bank for Industry and Commerce – Comoros (BIC) 00001
National Society of Posts and Financial Services (SNPSF) 00003
Development Bank of the Comoros (BDC) 00004
Federal Bank of Commerce (BFC) 00005
EXIM BANK – Comoros 00006
UNION MECK 00007
SANDUK ANJOUAN 00008
SANDUK MOHELI 00009

Place de France. BP 405 MORONI
TEL : (269) 773 18 14 - (269) 773 10 02 – FAX : (269) 773 03 49
E-mail : secretariat@banque-comores.km
Site : www.banque-comores.km

The Bank Code 00002 previously assigned to the Central Bank is no longer used.

ARTICLE 2: Constituent Elements of the Bank Account Details (RIB)

Credit institutions must ensure that the national and international identifiers of their clients, namely the RIB and the IBAN, are standardized.

The RIB (Bank Account Details): Domestic identifier of the bank account, which consists of 23 alphanumeric characters comprising:

a) The bank code: A five-digit code corresponding to the credit institution's number, in accordance with Article 1.

b) The branch code: A five-digit code corresponding to the number of each branch of the institution. In the event that, in the institution's internal nomenclature, this number is less than five digits, one or more zeros must be added from the left to form a five-digit number.

c) The account number: An eleven-digit code corresponding to the client's account number. In the event that, in the institution's internal nomenclature, the structure of the account number is alphanumeric, the letters present in the account data must be replaced to calculate the RIB key, according to the following representation keys:

A,J=1 ; B,K,S=2 ; C,L,T = 3 ; D,M,U=4 ; E,N,V=5 ; F,O ,W=6 ; G,P,X=7 ; H,Q,Y=8 and I,R,Z=9

In the event that, in the institution's internal nomenclature, this number is less than eleven digits, one or more zeros must be added from the left to form an eleven-digit number.

d) RIB Key: A two-digit code between 01 and 97 corresponding to a RIB control key. It is a mathematical formula used to verify the validity of the RIB (bank code, branch code, and account number) according to the "MOD 97-10" calculation method indicated in the international standard ISO 7064.

Example of RIB

Bank Code	Branch Code	Account Number	RIB Key
00099	00001	720002	88

Place de France. BP 405 MORONI
TEL : (269) 773 18 14 - (269) 773 10 02 – FAX : (269) 773 03 49
E-mail : secretariat@banque-comores.km
Site : www.banque-comores.km

ARTICLE 3: Constituent Elements of the IBAN

The IBAN (International Bank Account Number - international identifier) of an account is composed of the RIB completed with a prefix containing 2 elements:

a) A 2-letter alphabetic country code (ISO standard) identifying the country where the account is held, in this case "KM", which refers to the ISO code for the Comoros.

b) A 2-digit code representing the numeric key that allows control of the entire IBAN according to a universally adopted calculation mode. Its purpose is to verify the validity of the account number. It is calculated according to the "MOD 97-10" calculation method, indicated in the international standard ISO 7064.

The IBAN of a Comorian bank account has a fixed length of 27 alphanumeric characters (4 for the prefix + 23 for the RIB). When used in paper format, the IBAN must be printed from left to right, divided into seven groups separated by spaces, each group consisting of four digits as follows:

KM 46 0009 9000 0100 0007 2000 288

ARTICLE 4: Information to Customers on RIB and IBAN

Credit institutions must inform their clients on appropriate supports (particularly account statements) as soon as possible regarding the rules and principles governing the use of the RIB and IBAN, clarifying their nature, purpose, and importance, specifically sensitizing them to the necessity of communicating their RIB for any domestic operation and their IBAN for any international operation.

They must also make available to clients a RIB and IBAN statement that they can attach to any transfer request.

ARTICLE 5: The BIC Code (Bank Identifier Code)

For international operations, the Central Bank of the Comoros encourages credit institutions to affiliate with the international SWIFT network (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) to obtain their BIC codes (Bank Identifier Code), which is the international identifier of the credit institution. This code can be represented on the RIB in the following manner:

a) Four letters identify the code of the Credit Institution: Example COCB (Central Bank of Comoros)

b) The next two represent the country code. Example: KM

Place de France. BP 405 MORONI
TEL : (269) 773 18 14 - (269) 773 10 02 – FAX : (269) 773 03 49
E-mail : secretariat@banque-comores.km
Site : www.banque-comores.km

c) The next two characters (letter or number) indicate the location. Example KM
d) It can be completed by three characters corresponding to a branch. Example XXX

Example:
COCBKMKMXXX or BFDCKMKMXXX or BICCKMKMXXX or EXTNKMKMXXX

Credit institutions operating in the Comoros can thus provide their clients with the RIB including the IBAN and SWIFT, particularly for each account used to process international transfer operations.

ARTICLE 6:

Credit institutions are obligated, from the date of entry into force of this Regulation:

To accept and execute national bank transfers only on the basis of the RIB of the order giver and the beneficiary.
To accept and execute international bank transfers only on the basis of the IBAN of the order giver and the beneficiary.

ARTICLE 7:

This Regulation enters into force on October 1, 2015.

Moroni, February 17, 2015

Mzé Abdou Mohamed Chanfiou

Place de France. BP 405 MORONI
TEL : (269) 773 18 14 - (269) 773 10 02 – FAX : (269) 773 03 49
E-mail : secretariat@banque-comores.km
Site : www.banque-comores.km