KYC AND FINANCIAL SECURITY

KYC and financial security mainly concern the fight against money laundering, terrorism financing countering and compliance with commercial and financial embargoes. They depend on a regulatory framework, which defines the obligations within each of the areas concerned. 

1. Customer knowledge at the heart of concerns
Customer knowledge (KYC- Know Your Customer) is one of the major obligations common to all areas covered by financial security. “This term refers to all the processes put in place to ensure both in-depth knowledge of customers and regular monitoring. This knowledge enables the Group to establish the origin of the funds and verify the consistency of the customer banking and financial operations with his activity, financial situation and patrimonial environment."  

2. Fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism
Money laundering is a criminal offense, which consists of giving a fake legitimacy to illegally obtained money. Terrorist financing is the provision or the raising of funds that could be used in terrorist activities.

• To counter these scourges, regulations require the subject persons and, more particularly, the banks because of their position at the heart of financial exchanges, to put in place mechanisms in order to contribute to the control and detection of such operations. The BMCE Group constantly monitors the compliance of the systems in place in all its entities with the relevant regulatory and legal provisions. In this regard, the Group adopted a policy based on the following principles:

• Strict implementation of relevant regulations by setting up compliant systems incorporating an evolving risk classification, updating internal procedures, adapting information systems, etc…
• Implementation of the standards set by the BANK OF AFRICA Group in all businesses and countries where it operates.
• Setting up an awareness and training programme for the all staff members in the field of fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.

3. Compliance with financial embargoes and sanctions

The BANK OF AFRICA Group reserves the right to reject any transaction that does not comply with its internal policy on financial embargoes and sanctions regimes.
In application of international policies, specific restrictive measures are taken against States, countries, territories, entities, natural or legal persons. These restrictive measures include commercial and financial sanctions prohibiting the execution of all or some operations and transactions and / or impose the freezing of assets held by the person or entity subject of the sanction. The BMCE group has put in place an embargo compliance policy aimed at providing effective and appropriate systems to meet relevant standards and obligations.