In order to carry on the business of manual foreign exchange in the form of a bureau de change, prior authorisation must be obtained from the Ministry responsible for currency and credit in the country where the bureau de change is established, after receiving the assent of the Central Bank. Approval is valid for a single bureau de change. However, an approved bureau de change may open new branches under the conditions laid down in the foreign exchange regulations and the relevant instruction. Bureaux de change are set up in the form of a public limited company or a limited liability company. They must have a minimum share capital of fifty million (50,000,000) CFA francs, fully paid up.
Legal entities wishing to carry on the business of manual foreign exchange within the framework of a bureau de change must submit an application for authorisation, in two original copies, to the Ministry responsible for currency and credit in the country in which they are established. The application for authorisation must be accompanied by a file containing the following documents:
Legal entities wishing to carry on the business of manual foreign exchange within the framework of a bureau de change must submit an application for authorisation, in two original copies, to the Ministry responsible for currency and credit in the country in which they are established. The application for authorisation must be accompanied by a file containing the following documents:
For the bureau de change to be approved
- Bank certificate or notarised deed blocking the minimum capital requirement
- Location or map of head office and any branches
- Certificate of registration in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register of the promoting legal entity
- Copy of the company's articles of association
- Three (03) year development plan
For the manager or director
- Certified copy of birth certificate
- Certified copy of a valid official identity document (national identity card or passport)
- Valid residence permit for foreign nationals
- Curriculum vitae, dated and signed by the applicant
- Certified copies of diplomas
- Extract from the manager's criminal record, dated less than three months and issued by the competent authorities of the manager's country of nationality and, where applicable, country of residence
- Two passport-sized photographs
- Copy of the minutes of the Board of Directors or deed appointing the interested party as manager
- Declaration on honour by which the manager or director certifies that he or she is not subject to any of the prohibitions or incompatibilities provided for by the regulations in force.
For shareholders
Individual promoter
- Identity document or any valid document in lieu thereof
- Extract from the criminal record dated less than three months and issued by the competent authorities of the country of nationality and, where applicable, the country of residence.
- Declaration on honour by which the shareholder indicates the origin of the funds to be invested and certifies that these do not come from illegal activities.
Legal entity promoter
- Copy of articles of association
- Extract from the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register
- List of the company's shareholders, giving details for each of them of the number of shares held, the nominal value of the shares and the corresponding percentage holding and equivalence in terms of voting rights; for any corporate shareholder, details of all ascending shareholders until the final individual shareholders are identified; minutes of the extraordinary general meeting authorising subscription to the share capital of the new bureau de change.
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