Règlement n° 01/2017/BCC relatif à la monnaie électronique (Regulation No. 01/2017/BCC on Electronic Money) (Comoros)

Regulation No. 01/2017/BCC (Reglement n° 01_2017_BCC_DSBR) on electronic money, issued by the Banque Centrale des Comores (BCC), is the formal instrument governing electronic money and electronic money establishments in the Comoros. It provides the regulatory basis on which the BCC has approved the country's electronic money issuers, including Telco Money, Huri Money, Wari (MCTV) and Holo (Banque de Développement des Comores), and supports the central bank's financial-inclusion objectives in a small, lower-capacity jurisdiction where e-money is a primary driver of access to digital finance (outstanding e-money has reached several billion Comorian francs across hundreds of thousands of accounts). Scope and applicability: the Regulation applies to issuers of electronic money operating in the Comoros. Issuing electronic money requires the approval/authorisation of the BCC. The Regulation defines electronic money and the conditions under which an establishment may be authorised to issue it. Core obligations: authorised electronic money establishments must meet prudential and operational requirements set by the BCC, safeguard customer funds backing the e-money issued (full backing, with funds segregated from the establishment's own resources), maintain sound governance, risk-management and internal-control systems, and comply with AML/CFT obligations. The Regulation addresses customer protection, transaction security, agent arrangements and reporting to the BCC. A more comprehensive law on 'payment services and payment service providers', sponsored by the BCC with World Bank support, has been in preparation, indicating the framework is evolving, but Regulation No. 01/2017/BCC remains the operative e-money instrument. Supervision and enforcement: the BCC supervises electronic money establishments through approval, reporting and oversight, monitors compliance with the regulations in force, and may take corrective or disciplinary measures, including withdrawal of approval, for non-compliance. As the Comoros's principal fintech instrument, it brings the country's mobile money and e-money providers within a supervised framework.

1. 1Requires BCC approval/authorisation to issue electronic money in the Comoros
2. 2Defines electronic money and conditions for authorising electronic money establishments
3. 3Full backing of issued e-money by segregated customer funds, separate from the establishment's own resources
4. 4Governance, risk-management, internal-control, transaction-security and AML/CFT requirements
5. 5Customer protection, agent arrangements and reporting to the BCC
6. 6BCC supervises and may take corrective measures or withdraw approval; comprehensive payment-services law in preparation (BCC/World Bank)