Regulatory Alerts2023-12-29
Instruction No. 72/AMF-UMOA/2023 on the Approval of Deposit and Trust Funds as Account Keepers and the Management of Deposited Assets on the UMOA Regional Financial Market
The UMOA Financial Markets Authority (AMF-UMOA) issued Instruction No. 72/2023 to formally approve Deposit and Trust Funds as account keepers for inactive and ownerless assets on the regional financial market and to establish strict management and restitution procedures for these assets. The regulation mandates that account keepers transfer inactive assets to national Deposit and Trust Funds within two months, outlines detailed application and approval criteria for these institutions, and defines their obligations regarding custody, transparent management, annual reporting, and active beneficiary searches. Upon a thirty-year prescription period for inactive accounts or a ten-year period for ownerless assets, the assets are liquidated and distributed, with seventy percent allocated to the relevant national Deposit and Trust Fund and thirty percent to the regional Fund for the Protection of Savers and Financial Education.