Topic: aml-cft
9 entries.
June 2026
At its 17 to 19 June plenary in Paris, the last under the Mexican presidency, the FATF removed Algeria and Namibia from the list of Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring and added Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving 22 jurisdictions on the grey list. Kenya was not among the exits: it remains under increased monitoring while it completes its action plan, which matters directly for the VASP licensing regime it is finalising, since Travel Rule implementation under the draft VASP Regulations (cpm-2026-0002) is part of Kenya's case for delisting. With South Africa out in May (cpm-2026-0007) and now Algeria and Namibia following, African delistings are becoming a pattern rather than an exception. Six African jurisdictions remain on the list.
May 2026
Law nº 023/2026 of 25/05/2026 regulating virtual asset business was published in Rwanda's Official Gazette n° Special of 28/05/2026 and, under article 40, came into force that day with no transitional period. The Capital Market Authority is the Regulatory Authority, working with the National Bank of Rwanda on stability and payments (art. 8). Six criminal offences commenced with it, from FRW 15,000,000 for unlicensed marketing to FRW 150,000,000 for issuing virtual assets without approval, with personal liability for directors who mislead or obstruct the CMA (art. 37). Article 15(1) bars natural persons from virtual asset business outright. Licensing, capital thresholds, liquidity ratios and the whole administrative sanctions regime (art. 32) are deferred to regulations that had not been issued as of 1 September 2026, checked against the gazette index to 25 August and the CMA's own regulations, guidelines and directives pages. Firms are exposed under article 34 and cannot apply. Article 27(2)(b) ties every provider's personal data measures to Law 058/2021, already in force under the NCSA.
Ten weeks after quietly surveying fintechs on crypto (cpm-2026-0011), the BCEAO convened an international conference in Dakar on 8 May on crypto-assets and digital innovations and their implications for monetary and financial stability. The agenda was regulatory, not promotional: stablecoin implications for monetary policy, prudential supervision and regional cooperation, cybersecurity and financial integrity. The Governor's stated objective was a proportionate regulatory framework coordinated at the regional level. Read the trajectory: the central bank of the eight-state UEMOA zone has moved from silence to intelligence-gathering to public convening inside six months, the standard runway a central bank builds before it regulates. Whatever framework emerges will bind Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo simultaneously. Source in French; translation ours.
South Africa was removed from the FATF list of Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring after a multi-year action plan coordinated across Treasury, SARB and the FSCA. For crypto this is the continent's most consequential AML development of the half-year. Grey-list status was a standing objection institutional allocators raised against SA-regulated platforms, and its removal converts the country's CASP licensing regime from a compliance burden into a sales asset. Watch the knock-ons: Kenya's grey-list review was due at the June 2026 plenary, and Nigeria's action plan is in progress. Delisting is now the template other African jurisdictions will be measured against.
April 2026
The National Treasury signalled amendments to the Exchange Control Regulations to govern transfers of crypto assets to non-residents. This is the missing piece that puts crypto-to-fiat conversions and cross-border transfers under the same SARB approval and declaration machinery as ordinary currency transfers. The direction of travel is clear even before the text: VASPs holding customer funds, stablecoin issuers with cross-border redemption flows, and institutions moving ZAR into digital assets for offshore transfer should expect exchange-control reporting to become part of their compliance stack. The move aligns with FIC's Travel Rule guidance (PCC 123) and the wider capital flow management overhaul. Re-verified 6 July 2026: the signalled instrument arrived on 17 April as the Draft Capital Flow Management Regulations, 2026 (cpm-2026-0009).
March 2026
The National Treasury circulated the Draft Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations, 2026 on 17 March. It is the first implementing instrument under the VASP Act 2025, published with a Regulatory Impact Statement and a multi-agency task force behind it. The draft sets licensing and authorisation processes for all VASP categories, including exchanges, custodial wallets and payment processors, and writes FATF Recommendation 15 and Travel Rule requirements into the Kenyan framework. Strong Travel Rule implementation also supports Kenya's argument for exiting FATF increased monitoring. The regulations, not the Act, decide what compliance actually costs; capital requirements and licensing categories land here. Re-verified 6 July 2026: comments closed 10 April and the final regulations had not been gazetted as of this date.
The NBE declared all birr-paired peer-to-peer crypto transactions illegal unless expressly authorised, citing FX manipulation, fraud and missing AML/CFT safeguards. It is Ethiopia's first named regulatory action on crypto. Read it as currency policy rather than crypto philosophy: after the July 2024 reform programme and a roughly 200% birr devaluation, the ban closes an arbitrage channel. The same statement confirms a comprehensive digital asset framework is in development with global peer regulators; the prohibition is scoped narrowly and authorisation is explicitly contemplated. When that framework lands, it would be East Africa's second formal licensing regime after Kenya. The ban is the signal; the framework is the story. Re-verified 6 July 2026: the framework had not been published; the Financial Intelligence Service was reported to be developing crypto transaction regulations, with wider legislation still expected in 2026.
December 2025
Ghana's Virtual Asset Service Providers Act (Act 1154) passed Parliament on 19 December 2025 and received presidential assent on 30 December, making it the third African standalone digital asset statute enacted in the October to December 2025 quarter, after Kenya and Nigeria. Africa's earlier standalone regimes include Mauritius (VAITOS Act 2021), Botswana (2022), Namibia (2023) and Seychelles (2024), so this is a claim about the pace of that quarter, not about being third on the continent. The model is co-regulatory: Bank of Ghana supervises the monetary and payments dimension, SEC Ghana the securities dimension. Licensing is mandatory for all VASPs, AML obligations attach, and crypto influencers reportedly fall within the licensing net. The target is an estimated $3 billion informal market involving roughly 17% of Ghanaian adults. BoG's supervisory rules were slated to roll out in phases through 2026.
November 2025
The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 received presidential assent on 15 October 2025 and came into force on 4 November 2025, making it the first standalone virtual asset statute enacted in Africa. Supervision is split: CBK takes digital asset issuance and custodial services, while CMA takes exchanges, brokers and trading platforms. An earlier draft's standalone regulator, VARA, was dropped. The 3% digital asset tax was repealed in favour of excise duty on VASP service fees, a materially better outcome for holders and P2P users. Section 47 gives existing VASPs one year from commencement to comply. That clock runs out on 4 November 2026, and every VASP touching the Kenyan market needs a licensing position before then.
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