Lei n.º 40/20, de 16 de Dezembro, Lei do Sistema de Pagamentos de Angola (LSPA)

Law 40/20 of 16 December 2020 (the Law on the Payment System of Angola, or LSPA) is the principal statute governing the supervision, regulation, management and operation of Angola's national payment system. Published in the Diário da República, I Série, No. 203, it replaced the previous Law 5/05 of 29 July 2005, modernising the legal framework to reflect the growth in transaction volumes and the emergence of electronic payment instruments and non-bank providers. The law applies to all entities that intervene in the payment system, including banks, payment service companies (sociedades prestadoras de serviços de pagamento), electronic money institutions, and payment system operators and managers, as well as to the instruments, infrastructures and arrangements through which payments are processed and settled. It defines the scope of payment services to include the deposit and withdrawal of funds in a payment account, the execution of payment operations, the issuance and acquisition of payment instruments, and the issuance of electronic money. The LSPA establishes the procedures for constituting and authorising entities that participate in the payment system and the rules governing their activity, intervention and control. The Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA) is designated as the authority responsible for overseeing, regulating and managing the system; it authorises participants, sets operational and risk-management requirements through subsidiary instruments (Avisos, Instrutivos and Directivas), and exercises oversight over systemically important payment systems. The law provides for the protection of settlement finality and the enforceability of netting arrangements, establishes principles of safety, efficiency and reliability for the system, and confers on the BNA powers of intervention in respect of participants that fail to meet their obligations. It also sets out a sanctions regime for breaches. As the umbrella legislation for the sector, the LSPA forms the legal basis on which the BNA has issued detailed authorisation rules for payment service providers and electronic money institutions. It remains in force and is the reference instrument against which Angola's fintech and digital-payment activity is regulated and supervised.

1. 1Establishes the legal regime for the supervision, regulation, management and operation of the Angolan Payment System, with the BNA as overseer
2. 2Defines payment services to include payment accounts, execution of payment operations, issuance and acquisition of payment instruments and issuance of electronic money
3. 3Requires entities participating in the payment system (including payment service companies and electronic money institutions) to be constituted and authorised by the BNA
4. 4Provides for settlement finality and the enforceability of netting in recognised systems
5. 5Confers BNA powers of oversight, intervention and supervision over participants and systemically important systems
6. 6Sets out a sanctions regime for breaches and revokes the predecessor Law 5/05 of 29 July 2005