Decision No. 31 of September 29, 2015 on the Compensation and Settlement of Monetary Operations in the West African Monetary Union

WEST AFRICAN MONETARY UNION DECISION NO. 31 OF SEPTEMBER 29, 2015/CM/UMOA ON THE COMPENSATION AND SETTLEMENT OF MONETARY OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT IN THE WEST AFRICAN MONETARY UNION (UMOA)

THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE WEST AFRICAN MONETARY UNION (UMOA),

Having regard to the Treaty of the West African Monetary Union (UMOA) of January 20, 2007, particularly Articles 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 29 and 34; Having regard to the Statutes of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) annexed to the UMOA Treaty, dated January 20, 2007, particularly Articles 9, 21 and 30; Having regard to Regulation No. 15/2002/CM/UEMOA of September 19, 2002 on payment systems in the member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), particularly Article 3; Having regard to the Governor's Instruction of the BCEAO, No. 008/05/2015 of May 21, 2015, governing the conditions and procedures for the exercise of activities by electronic money issuers in the member states of the West African Monetary Union (UMOA); Having regard to the BCEAO's Note on the compensation and settlement of monetary operations carried out in UEMOA, presented to the Council of Ministers at its ordinary session held in Dakar on September 29, 2015; Having regard to the Deliberations of the Council of Ministers at its ordinary session held in Dakar on September 29, 2015,

DECIDES

Article 1: Definitions For the purposes of this Decision, the following terms shall mean: Acceptor: any legal entity accepting electronic payment in exchange for a good or service provided. A party that has entered into an agreement with an acquirer to accept electronic transactions and which submits the transaction data to the acquirer. These transactions are generally carried out on a terminal using a bank card; Acquirer: The merchant's domiciled institution. It is an institution that has entered into an agreement with an acceptor for the purpose of acquiring electronic transaction data. The same financial institution may act as both acquirer and issuer; Issuer: Banks, payment financial institutions, duly authorized microfinance institutions, and electronic money institutions that make electronic payment instruments available to their clients; Electronic money institution: Any legal entity, other than banks, payment financial institutions, and decentralized financial systems, authorized to issue electronic money payment instruments, whose activities are limited to the issuance and distribution of electronic money; Compensation of monetary operations: Mechanism for determining net amounts or balances from interbank transactions carried out using bank cards or any similar medium; Monetary operations or monetary transactions: Operations or transactions initiated and/or carried out by bank card.

Article 2: Object This Decision aims to specify the rules governing the compensation and settlement of monetary operations carried out between issuers and acquirers based in one or more member states of the UMOA.

Article 3: Compensation and settlement of monetary operations Monetary transactions between issuers and acquirers based in one or more member states of the UMOA must be compensated and settled in CFA francs.

Article 4: Compensation and settlement system or mechanism Any system or mechanism for compensating and settling monetary transactions concluded between issuers and acquirers based in one or more member states of the UMOA must be previously authorized by the Central Bank of West African States.

Article 5: Subject institutions Banks, payment financial institutions, duly authorized microfinance institutions, electronic money institutions, and operators of systems and mechanisms for compensating and settling monetary transactions must take the necessary measures to comply with this Decision.

Article 6: Compliance deadline Subject institutions have a period of three months, from the date of its signature, to comply with this Decision.

Article 7: Monitoring of implementation The Central Bank of West African States is responsible for monitoring the implementation of this Decision.

Article 8: Final provisions This Decision repeals and replaces all previous provisions dealing with the same subject. It enters into force as of the date of its signature and shall be published wherever necessary.

Done at Dakar, September 29, 2015 For the Council of Ministers of the West African Monetary Union, The President, Saidou SIDIBE Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Niger