Instruction No. 52 on the Prevention, Centralization and Dissemination of Information on Payment Incidents

CENTRAL BANK OF CONGO

THE GOVERNOR

INSTRUCTION N° 52...... TO CREDIT INSTITUTIONS AND FINANCIAL COMPANIES REGARDING THE PREVENTION, CENTRALIZATION AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON PAYMENT INCIDENTS

The Central Bank of Congo,

Having regard to the Organic Law No. 18/027 of December 13, 2018, on the organization and functioning of the Central Bank of Congo, particularly Articles 10, 11, 25 and 71;

Having regard to Law No. 18/019 of July 9, 2018, on payment and securities settlement systems, particularly Articles 75 and 76;

Having regard to Law No. 22/069 of December 27, 2022, on the activity and supervision of Credit Institutions;

Having regard to Law No. 002/2002 of February 2, 2002, on provisions applicable to Savings and Credit Cooperatives;

Having regard to Law No. 11/020 of September 15, 2011, setting rules relating to the activity of Microfinance in the Democratic Republic of Congo;

Having regard to Law No. 22/068 of December 27, 2022, on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

Having regard to the Decree of July 28, 1934, on bills of exchange, promissory notes and protests;

Having regard to the Decree of December 10, 1951, introducing into Congolese Law the Uniform Law on Cheques;

Considering the importance of centralized management of account data to ensure the reliability of figures in matters of financial inclusion;

Considering the need to strengthen customer knowledge by payment service providers and user confidence in payment instruments, namely cheques, bank cards, bills of exchange, promissory notes and electronic wallets;

Enacts the following provisions:

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TITLE I: GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER I: OBJECT, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1:

This Instruction aims to set out the operating procedures of the Payment Incidents Registry, specifying the rules applicable regarding the prevention, centralization and dissemination of information on clients, accounts, payment incidents and irregular payment instruments.

Article 2:

This Instruction applies to Credit Institutions, financial companies, payment account holders and issuers of payment instruments authorized by the Central Bank of Congo, hereinafter referred to as "regulated entities":

• banks;
• savings banks;
• microfinance companies;
• savings and credit cooperatives;
• payment institutions;
• electronic money institutions;
• postal financial services.

Article 3:

For the purposes of this Instruction, the following terms are defined as:

• bank ban: prohibition on using ordinary cheques and other commercial instruments pronounced by a regulated entity against a client, with the obligation for the latter to return all other cheque forms in their possession;

• judicial ban: prohibition on issuing ordinary cheques and commercial instruments, using any payment instrument other than cheques and commercial instruments, and obtaining a payment card or any other payment instrument, pronounced by a court following any offense related to cheques, commercial instruments, payment cards, direct debits or any other payment instrument;

• unique client identifier (UCI): unique number assigned by the CIP to the holder of a bank account or payment account for identification in the payment system upon opening an account.

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TITLE II: OPERATION OF THE PAYMENT INCIDENTS REGISTRY

CHAPTER I: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PAYMENT INCIDENTS REGISTRY

Section 1: Features

Article 4:

The Central Bank of Congo establishes and manages a registry called the "Payment Incidents Registry", abbreviated as CIP, whose mission is the prevention of payment incidents and the centralization of information on clients, accounts, payment incidents and irregular payment instruments.

The CIP centralizes and disseminates to regulated entities information regarding the unique client identifier (UCI), bank and judicial bans, as well as the lifting of these bans.

Article 5

The CIP comprises four (4) national sub-registries as follows:

• the sub-registry of clients and accounts;
• the sub-registry of payment incidents;
• the sub-registry of payment instruments;
• The sub-registry for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation.

Article 6:

Membership in the Payment Incidents Registry is mandatory for every regulated entity.

Section 2: Access to the CIP and retention of information

Article 7:

Access to the CIP is reserved for judges and officers of the Public Ministry, the Tax Administration, the National Financial Intelligence Unit, regulated entities, account holders or their representatives, as well as acceptors of payment instruments.

Judges and officers of the Public Ministry, in the context of judicial proceedings, the Tax Administration, and the National Financial Intelligence Unit access CIP information after prior referral to the Central Bank of Congo.

Acceptors of payment instruments, as well as account holders and their representatives, access the CIP to verify respectively the regularity of a payment instrument and the authenticity of information concerning them, particularly regarding their identities and payment incidents.

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Account holders or their representatives access CIP information by submitting a request to the Central Bank, by mail or any other means, accompanied by official documents allowing their identification.

Article 8:

Information held by the CIP is retained for a period of 10 years from their first entry. Beyond this period, the information is subject to deletion, unless otherwise advised by the Central Bank of Congo.

Article 9:

The use of CIP information for purposes other than those related to the prevention and repression of offenses on payment instruments may engage the civil liability and, where applicable, the criminal liability of its author.

CHAPTER II: DECLARATORY OBLIGATIONS

Article 10:

Regulated entities are required to declare to the CIP, within two (2) working days, on paper or electronic media, the following information:

• account openings and closures;
• information on client holders and representatives;
• deposits and withdrawals of payment instruments;
• payment incidents and their regularization;
• bank bans and, where applicable, their lifting;
• judicial bans and, where applicable, their lifting;
• violations of bank and judicial bans of which they are seized;
• irregular payment instruments.

Article 11:

The regulated entity informs, within two (2) working days, the order giver, by letter or any means leaving a trace, of the occurrence of an incident on their account.

It declares any incident to the CIP no later than the second working day, by mail, following the detection of the incident, ensuring the reliability of the information and recording it in its books within the same timeframe.

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CHAPTER III: CIP SUB-REGISTRIES

Section 1: Sub-registry of clients and accounts (SRCC)

Article 12:

The Sub-registry of Clients and Accounts, abbreviated as SRCC, records information relating to clients and their accounts.

Regulated entities are required to declare, on physical or electronic media, the identification data of clients, whether natural or legal persons, and the accounts domiciled in their books, for entry into the SRCC.

Article 13:

The opening of an account and, where applicable, the granting of a payment instrument require prior consultation of the SRCC by the regulated entity, which retains a record of the response given to it for this purpose.

The registration of a natural or legal person in the SRCC results in the attribution or confirmation by the Central Bank of Congo of a Unique Client Identifier (UCI) which allows linking all accounts opened in the name of a person with all regulated entities in the country, as well as all payment instruments held by them.

Article 14:

Any declaration of account opening in the SRCC by a regulated entity must contain, in particular, the following information:

• name, first name, gender, date and place of birth, and address of the account holder for natural persons;
• name, legal form, RCCM and national identification numbers, and registered office address for legal persons;
• type of account, namely savings account, current account, securities account, escrow account, electronic money payment account;
• nature of the account, namely individual account, joint or indivisible account, professional business account;
• the account's RIB (Banking Identification Code);
• currency code;
• account status.

Regulated entities consult the CIP on a regular basis to verify if any of their clients are subject to a bank or judicial ban due to an incident occurring with another financial institution.

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Article 15:

The regulated entity must declare to the CIP/SRCC, by physical or electronic mail, within 48 hours of their occurrence:

• any opening or closure of an account belonging to a new or existing client;
• any creation of a new client, natural or legal person, or representative;
• any modification of data relating to the identification and legal or administrative status of a client and/or account;
• any modification of data relating to the identification and legal, administrative status of a representative, particularly in case of termination of mandate;
• any suspension of the account relationship with a client;
• any death of a natural person client or any cessation of activity or liquidation of a legal person.

Article 16:

Regulated entities must obtain prior authorization from the Central Bank of Congo before any modification of data relating to clients and their accounts.

Section 2: Sub-registry of payment incidents (SRIP)

Article 17:

The sub-registry of payment incidents, abbreviated as SRIP, records payment incidents on cheques or any other payment instrument, as well as the regularization of these incidents.

Article 18:

Regulated entities declare payment incidents to the CIP/SRIP for the following reasons:

• absence or insufficiency of funds on an operation by cheque or commercial instrument;
• violation of a bank or judicial ban;
• fraudulent or abusive use of a payment instrument (cheque, payment card, electronic wallet, etc.);
• use of an irregular payment instrument.

Article 19:

Refusal of payment for lack or insufficiency of funds of any cheque issued in favor of the drawer themselves does not constitute a payment incident.

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Article 20:

Before any declaration of a payment incident, the regulated entity must ensure that the client's account on which the incident is based has been previously registered in the clients-accounts sub-registry (SRCC).

Section 3: Sub-registry of payment instruments (SRIDP)

Article 21:

Regulated entities are required to declare to the CIP/SRIDP by physical or electronic mail all payment instruments made available to customers at the time of their issuance.

Article 22:

Regulated entities must declare, within two (2) working days, on physical or electronic media, payment instruments that have become irregular, as well as the lifting and deletion of the registration of irregularity of an instrument.

The following are considered irregular payment instruments:

• cheques backed by accounts whose holders are subject to a bank or judicial ban;
• the payment instrument (cheque, commercial instrument, card, ...) backed by an account whose holder is subject to a judicial ban;
• the payment instrument issued on a closed or blocked account;
• the payment instrument that has been declared lost, stolen, fraudulent, forged or counterfeited;
• the payment instrument that has been subject to an opposition;
• the payment instrument whose irregularity is linked to a presumption of offense in matters of money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation.

Article 23:

Payment instruments backed by accounts and/or used by clients not declared in the clients-accounts sub-registry are considered irregular.

Section 4: Sub-registry for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (SRLBC-FTP)

Article 24:

The sub-registry for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation, abbreviated as SRLBC-FTP, contains information on clients, accounts and payment instruments concerned by the offense of money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation.

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Article 25:

Regulated entities are required to declare to the CIP/SRLBC-FTP by physical or electronic mail information on clients, accounts and all payment instruments concerned by the offense of money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation.

Article 26:

Regulated entities must declare to the CIP/SRBC-FTP the list of clients considered as Politically Exposed Persons within the meaning of Law No. 22/068 of December 27, 2022, on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

TITLE III: PREVENTION OF PAYMENT INCIDENTS

CHAPTER 1: RESPONSIBILITY OF REGULATED ENTITIES

Article 27:

The regulated entity is required, before issuing a payment instrument, to consult the sub-registry of payment incidents to detect any potential entry for a bank or judicial ban.

Article 28:

The regulated entity is liable to third parties when it issues a payment instrument to a person sanctioned by a bank or judicial ban.

CHAPTER 2: WARNING, BANK BAN AND REGULARIZATION OF PAYMENT INCIDENTS ON CHEQUES

Article 29:

The regulated entity that refuses payment of a cheque for lack or insufficiency of funds must send to the account holder and to each of the co-holders when it is a joint account, no later than the second working day following the refusal, a warning letter, a copy of which is reserved for the Central Bank for entry into the payment incidents file.

The account holder bears the costs related to the transmission of the warning letter referred to in paragraph 1. These costs cannot exceed the equivalent in Congolese francs of USD 20.

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Article 30:

In the event of the occurrence on the same day of several payment incidents on a single account, the warning to regularize covers globally all incidents detected and is sent in the same terms as those defined in Article 29 above to the account holder and to each of the co-holders when it is a joint account.

Article 31:

When the account is blocked due to unavailability of funds related to a seizure, the regulated entity is required to send the warning letter only if the account balance is lower than the amount of the issued cheque.

Any deposit made by the drawer on the account on which the unpaid cheque was issued is allocated first to the creation of funds for the full payment of the cheque as long as the bank ban is not pronounced.

Article 32:

The drawee bank issues to the cheque issuer, account holder, in the event of regularization of a payment incident within thirty (30) days from the warning, a payment certificate and declares the regularization of the incident to the CIP.

Article 33:

The bank ban is lifted when the issuer of the unpaid cheque who is under a bank ban regularizes the incident after the expiration of the thirty (30) day period. In this case, the drawee bank must declare the lifting of the bank ban to the CIP and issue a payment certificate to the cheque issuer.

Before lifting the bank ban, the drawee bank must require the receipt of payment of the liberatory penalty due to the Central Bank of Congo.

TITLE IV: TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 34:

Non-compliance by regulated entities with the provisions of this Instruction exposes offenders to the sanctions provided for by the legal and regulatory provisions in this matter.

Article 35:

The provisions of Article 23 enter into force twelve (12) months after the publication of this Instruction.

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Regulated entities are required to declare to the CIP, during this transition period, the data of all existing clients, all accounts already opened, and all payment instruments in circulation.

Article 36:

This Instruction enters into force on the date of its signature and repeals all prior provisions contrary to it.

Done in Kinshasa, on JUL 26, 2023

MALANGU KABEDI MBUYI Governor

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