Law No. 178/AN/25/9ème L Amending Law No. 106/AN/24/9ème L on the Fight against Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

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Law No. 178/AN/25/9ème L amending Law No. 106/AN/24/9ème L on the Fight against Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. • Measure: General • Publication Date: 12/02/2026 Édition No. 06 of 04/06/2025

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HAS ADOPTED THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC PROMULGATES THE LAW BELOW:

VU the Constitution of 15 September 1992; VU the Constitutional Law No. 92/AN/10/6ème L of 21 April 2010 amending the Constitution; VU Law No. 59/AN/94 of 05 January 1995 establishing the Penal Code; VU Law No. 60/AN/94/3ème L of 05 January 1995 establishing the Code of Criminal Procedure; VU Law No. 103/AN/24/9ème L of 6 March 2024 on the prevention and fight against corruption and related offences; VU Law No. 104/AN/24/9ème L of 06 March 2024, amending Law No. 110/AN/11/6ème L on the fight against terrorism financing; VU Law No. 105/AN/24/9ème L of 06 March 2024, amending Law No. 111/AN/11/6ème L on the fight against terrorism and other serious offences; VU Law No. 106/AN/24/9ème L on the fight against money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; VU Decree No. 2024-052/PR/MJDH on the organization and functioning of the National Financial Intelligence Agency (ANRF); VU Decree No. 2024-053/PR/MJDH on the implementation regime for targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; VU Decree No. 2024-314/PR/MI on the application of Law No. 106/AN/24/9ème L on the fight against money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; VU Decree No. 2021-105/PRE of 24 May 2021 on the appointment of the Prime Minister; VU Decree No. 2021-106/PRE of 24 May 2021 on the appointment of members of the Government; VU Decree No. 2021-114/PRE of 31 May 2021 fixing the attributions of Ministries; VU Decree No. 2022-001/PRE of 02 January 2022 on ministerial reshuffle; VU Decree No. 2025-082/PRE of 01 April 2025 on the appointment of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; VU Circular No. 86/PAN of 28/05/2025 on the convocation of the National Assembly in public session. The Council of Ministers heard at its meeting on 20 May 2025. HAS ADOPTED IN ITS PUBLIC SESSION OF 02/06/2025 THE LAW BELOW:

TITLE I: GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER I: OBJECT Article 1-1-1: Object of the Law. This law aims to define the legal framework for the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It determines measures aimed at preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as facilitating related investigations, prosecutions and international cooperation.

CHAPTER II: DEFINITIONS Article 1-2-1: Definition of Money Laundering. For the purposes of this law, money laundering is considered to be: a) The conversion or transfer of property, with the aim of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of such property or assisting any person involved in the commission of the underlying offence to evade legal consequences of their acts; b) The concealment or disguise of the nature, origin, location, disposition, movement or ownership of property; c) The acquisition, holding or use of property and assets by a person who knows, suspects or ought to have known that such property or assets constitute proceeds of crime within the meaning of this law. The knowledge, intention or motivation required as an element of the offence may be inferred from objective factual circumstances.

Article 1-2-2: Terminology For the purposes of this law:

1. The expression "financing of terrorist activities" has the same meaning as "terrorism financing" as defined by terrorism financing legislation;
2. The expression "financial institutions" refers to the list of financial institutions or bodies covered in paragraph I of Article 2-1-1 of this law;
3. The expression "designated non-financial businesses and professions" refers to the list of persons mentioned in paragraphs II and III of Article 2-1-1 of this law;
4. The term "proceeds of crime" refers to any property or economic benefit derived directly or indirectly from any crime or offence, or obtained directly or indirectly through the commission of an offence; this benefit may consist of property as defined in point 5 below;
5. The term "property" refers to all types of assets, corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, as well as legal instruments or documents evidencing ownership of such assets or rights relating thereto;
6. The term "instrument" refers to all objects used or intended to be used in any way, wholly or partly, to commit one or more criminal offences;
7. The term "criminal organization" or "organized criminal activity" refers, for the purposes of this law, to any structured association established with the aim of committing crimes or offences;
8. The term "confiscation" refers to the permanent deprivation of property following a decision by a court or other competent authority.
9. The term "underlying offence" refers to any criminal offence, even committed abroad, that enabled its perpetrator to obtain proceeds of crime or offences within the meaning of this law.
10. The term "perpetrator" refers to any person who participated in the offence either as principal, co-perpetrator or accomplice. To serve as a basis for money laundering prosecutions, the facts of the underlying offence committed abroad must have the character of a criminal offence in the country where they were committed and under the internal law of the Republic of Djibouti, unless otherwise agreed;
11. The terms "Politically Exposed Persons" refer to foreign and national politically exposed persons, as well as persons who exercise or have exercised important functions within or for an international organization;
12. The expression "foreign politically exposed persons" refers to persons who exercise or have exercised important public functions in a foreign country, including but not exclusively heads of state and government, senior politicians, high-ranking officials within public authorities, magistrates and senior military personnel, directors of state-owned enterprises and senior political party officials;
13. The expression "national PEPs" refers to natural persons who exercise or have exercised important public functions within the territory of the Republic of Djibouti, including but not exclusively heads of state and government, senior politicians, high-ranking officials within public authorities, magistrates and senior military personnel, directors of state-owned enterprises and senior political party officials. Persons who exercise or have exercised important functions within or for an international organization refer to senior management, namely directors, deputy directors and members of the board of administration, as well as all persons exercising equivalent functions;
14. The term "Business Relationships" refers to a commercial relationship that is presumed at the time it is established to last for a certain duration;
15. The term "occasional client" refers to the client who approaches a person listed in Article 2-1-1 of this law for the execution of an isolated transaction;
16. The term "virtual asset" refers to the digital representation of a value that can be exchanged digitally, or transferred, and that can be used for payment or investment purposes;
17. The term "Virtual Asset Service Provider" or VASP refers to any natural or legal person who commercially exercises one or more of the following activities or operations on behalf of a client or for their own account: i. exchange between virtual assets and fiat currency; ii. exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets; iii. transfer of virtual assets; iv. custody and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments enabling control over virtual assets; and participation in and provision of financial services related to the offer by an issuer and/or sale of virtual assets. To exercise their activities, VASPs are subject to prior approval by the Central Bank of Djibouti and must comply with regulations issued by the Governor of the Central Bank of Djibouti regarding the administration and control of their operations.
18. The term "bearer shares" refers to negotiable instruments that confer a shareholding in a legal entity upon the person holding a bearer share certificate.
19. The term "competent authorities" refers to all public authorities designated, pursuant to a law or regulation of the Republic of Djibouti, as responsible for the fight against money laundering and/or terrorism financing and/or proliferation financing of weapons of mass destruction.
20. The term "beneficiary" refers to: in the case of express trusts and similar legal arrangements, a beneficiary is the person(s) entitled to benefit from an express trust or similar legal arrangement. A beneficiary may be a natural or legal person or a legal arrangement; in the context of life assurance or another investment-linked insurance product, a beneficiary is the natural or legal person, legal arrangement or category of persons who will receive the contract amount upon the occurrence of the insured event covered by the insurance contract. This term also refers to the natural or legal person, or legal arrangement, identified as the recipient of an electronic transfer by the ordering customer. 20 bis. The term "beneficial owner" refers to the natural person(s) who ultimately: a) own or control the client and/or; b) are the natural person on whose behalf a transaction is conducted or a business relationship is established. Also included are persons who ultimately exercise effective control over a legal entity or legal arrangement. Only a natural person can be the ultimate beneficial owner, and more than one natural person can be the ultimate beneficial owner of a given legal entity or arrangement. A beneficial owner is any natural person who, directly or indirectly, controls at least 25% of the capital of a legal entity.
21. The term "settlor" refers to a natural or legal person who transfers ownership of their assets to trustees/fiduciaries by means of an instrument creating a trust or analogous arrangement.
22. The term "legal arrangement" refers to express trusts or similar legal arrangements.
23. The term "correspondence banking" refers to the provision of banking services by a bank (the "correspondent bank") to another bank (the "customer bank").
24. The term "ordering customer" refers to the account holder who authorizes an electronic transfer from this account, or, in the absence of an account, the natural or legal person who instructs the financial institution to process an electronic transfer.
25. The term "cash" refers to banknotes and coins in circulation serving as a medium of exchange, regardless of the currency.
26. The term "funds" refers to all types of assets, tangible or intangible, corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, regardless of their method of acquisition, as well as legal instruments or documents in any form, including electronic or digital, evidencing ownership of such assets or rights relating thereto.
27. The term "foreign counterparts" refers to foreign competent authorities exercising analogous responsibilities and functions in the context of a cooperation request, including when these foreign competent authorities are of different nature or status.
28. The term "reasonable measures" refers to appropriate measures that are proportionate to the risks of money laundering and terrorism financing.
29. The term "manual foreign exchange transaction" refers to the immediate exchange of banknotes or currencies denominated in different currencies, effected by transfer or delivery of cash, against settlement by another payment method denominated in another currency.
30. The term "obliged entity" refers to financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions under Article 2-1-1 and subject to the provisions of Titles II and III of this law.
31. The term "professional secrecy" refers to restrictions established by statutory or case law provisions on members of certain professions from disclosing certain information concerning their activity or clients.
32. The term "National Financial Intelligence Agency" or "ANRF" is Djibouti's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) established by Article 3-2-1-1 of this law.
33. The term "fund or value transfer service" refers to a financial service consisting of accepting cash, cheques or any other payment instrument or deposit of value and paying an equivalent amount in cash or in any other form to a beneficiary by means of communication, message, transfer or clearing system to which the fund or value transfer service belongs.
34. The terms "trusts" and "trustee" shall be understood in accordance with the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition.
35. The term "express trust" refers to a trust clearly established by the settlor, generally by means of a document such as a written deed creating the trust.
36. The term "electronic transfer" refers to any operation carried out electronically on behalf of an ordering customer with the aim of making a certain sum of money available to a beneficiary at another financial institution, provided that the ordering customer and the beneficiary may constitute a single person.

Article 1-1-3: Lifting of Professional Secrecy. Notwithstanding any contrary legislative or regulatory provisions, professional secrecy may not be invoked by the persons covered under Article 2-1-1 to refuse compliance with the obligations provided for in this law.

TITLE II: OBLIGATIONS RELATING TO THE FIGHT AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORISM FINANCING CHAPTER I: OBLIGED ENTITIES RELATING TO THE FIGHT AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORISM FINANCING. Article 2-1-1: Professions subject to the provisions of this law: I. Subject to the obligations provided in Titles II and III of this law are all financial institutions and intermediaries, as well as any natural or legal person who, within the framework of their profession, executes, controls or advises on operations involving deposits, exchanges, placements, conversions or any other movement of capital, including: a. credit institutions; b. financial auxiliaries; c. microfinance institutions; d. the Post Office for its fund transfer and manual foreign exchange activities; e. payment service providers; f. electronic money institutions; g. insurance companies; h. virtual asset service providers. II. Also subject to the provisions of Titles II and III of this law are: a. casinos and gaming establishments; b. dealers in precious metals and dealers in precious stones and works of art; c. real estate agents and commercial property brokers; d. non-governmental organizations and non-profit associations; e. travel agencies; f. lawyers, notaries, accountants, auditors, reviewers and auctioneers when they prepare or execute operations for their clients regarding the purchase and sale of real estate, capital management, securities or other client assets, management of bank accounts, savings accounts or securities accounts, organization of contributions for the establishment, operation or management of companies, creation, operation or administration of legal entities or legal arrangements, or purchase and sale of commercial entities; g. motor vehicle dealers; h. intermediaries specializing in international trade operations; III. Trust and company service providers are also subject to the provisions of this law: a. When acting as agents for the establishment of a legal entity; b. When acting or taking measures to ensure that another person acts as director or company secretary of a capital company, partner in a partnership or holder of a similar function for other types of legal entities; c. When providing a registered office, commercial address or premises, administrative or postal address to a capital company, partnership or any other legal entity or legal arrangement; d. When acting or taking measures to ensure that another person acts as trustee of an express trust or exercises an equivalent function for another form of legal arrangement; e. When acting or taking measures to ensure that another person acts as shareholder acting on behalf of another person.

Article 2-1-2: Limit on the use of cash and bearer securities or bonds. Any payment in cash or by bearer securities or bonds of a total amount exceeding one million Djiboutian Francs (1,000,000 FDJ) is subject to control.

Article 2-1-3: Obligation to execute fund transfers through a credit institution or financial institution. Any transfer abroad or from abroad of funds, securities or values for an amount exceeding one million Djiboutian Francs (1,000,000 FDJ) must be carried out by an authorized credit institution or financial institution, or through its intermediary.

CHAPTER II: DUE DILIGENCE OBLIGATIONS Article 2-2-1: General provisions. The State organizes the legal framework to ensure transparency of economic relations, notably by ensuring that corporate law and legal mechanisms for asset protection do not allow the formation of fictitious or shell entities.

Article 2-2-2: Prohibition of anonymous accounts. The persons mentioned in paragraph I of Article 2-1-1 do not maintain anonymous accounts or accounts under manifestly fictitious names.

Article 2-2-3: Risk assessment by obliged entities.

1. The persons mentioned in Article 2-1-1 take appropriate measures to identify and assess their money laundering and terrorism financing risks, including risks related to clients, countries or geographic areas, and products, services, operations and distribution channels. This risk assessment must be documented and developed taking into account all relevant risk factors before determining the overall risk level and the appropriate level and type of measures to be applied to mitigate these risks. They also ensure that this assessment is updated.
2. The persons covered under Article 2-1-1 take simplified measures when the national risk assessment indicates that the identified risk level is low.
3. The persons mentioned in Article 2-1-1 are required to have policies, controls and procedures approved by their senior management, enabling them to manage and mitigate risks identified at the national level by competent authorities and those identified by themselves within the framework of the risk assessment referred to in paragraph 1 of this article. They are also required to monitor the implementation of these controls and strengthen them if necessary.
4. When higher risks are identified, they take enhanced measures to manage and mitigate these risks.

Article 2-2-4: Identification and verification of the identity of business relationship clients and beneficial owners.

1. Before entering into a business relationship, the persons mentioned in Article 2-1-1 of this law are required to identify and verify the identity of their client and beneficial owner according to the procedures defined in this article.
2. The persons mentioned in Article 2-1-1 identify the client as follows: When the client is a natural person, by collecting their name(s) and surname(s), place and date of birth as well as address; When the client is a legal entity or legal arrangement, by collecting information on its legal form, name, registration number, registered office address and main place of activity address, if different from the registered office address, information on the powers governing and linking the legal entity as well as the names of relevant persons holding management positions in the legal entity or legal arrangement.
3. The persons mentioned in Article 2-1-1 verify the identity of the client as follows: When the client is a natural person, by presenting an original valid official document bearing their photograph and taking a copy of this document along with proof of address; When the client is a legal entity or legal arrangement, by producing the articles of association and any document establishing that it has been legally registered and has a real existence at the time of identification such as an original official deed or extract from the register dated less than three months, or its equivalent under foreign law, and by taking a copy of these documents.

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