Burkina

The criminal policy of Burkina Faso proposes three AML texts: Law 43/ADP of November 13, 1996 of the Criminal Code, and Law 17/99/AN of April 22, 1999 on the Drug Code. Law 17/99 of April 22, 1999 on the Drug Code in Burkina Faso addresses money laundering in its Article 5, and defines it as “operations consisting in the transfer or conversion of assets resulting from violations established as per this Law, with a view to hiding or dissimulating any persons involved in the perpetration of one of the violations in order to escape from the legal consequences of their acts.” In its Article 55, of the law a jail term of 10–20 years and a fine of 50 to 100 million CFA francs is applied to those who

(1) facilitate through any fraudulent means the misleading justification of the origin of the resources or assets of the author of violations described in this law;

(2) knowingly provide their support to any operations of placement, conversion, or dissimulation of the proceeds, or introduce into the national economy resources acquired through the commission of these violations;

(3) acquire, detain, or utilize earnings or resources knowing that they originate from one of the violations listed in the preceding paragraphs.

The law 026/2006 of November 28, 2006 concerning the fight against ML was enacted by Decree 649PRES of December 29, 2006 since, as a member state of WAEMU, Burkina Faso must comply with Guideline 07/2002/CM/UEMOA of September 19, 2002 concerning the uniform law on ML which the government was committed to adapt to its national institutional arrangement. With respect to the draft laws on the financing of terrorism, Burkina Faso has two draft texts in this respect. These are the ECOWAS Draft Framework Law, made available through GIABA, and WAEMU Guideline 04/2007 of July 4, 2007, both dealing with the financing of terrorism.

As a member state of the United Nations, Burkina Faso has committed to full compliance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1373. In that respect, the country has set up a task force that ensures coordination on this matter within its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Burkina Faso is a signatory to a number of international instruments, including the UN Convention Against Illegal Drug Trafficking and Psychotropic Substances of 1998; the International Convention for the Repression of Terrorist Financing adopted by the UN General Assembly of September 12, 1999; the UN Convention against Organized Transnational Crime, and its three Protocols, 2000; the AU (African Union) Convention on the Prevention of, and Fight Against Terrorism adopted by the 35th Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government in Algiers on July 14, 1999; and the OIC Convention Against International Terrorism adopted on July 1, 1999 in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).

The Ministry of Security is designated as the coordinator of AML/CFT activities. An AML/CFT Committee has been established, but this committee remains ineffective. Decree 2007/0581/PRE/PM/MEF of July 18, 2007, in furtherance of the provisions of Article 16 of Law 026/2006/AN of November 28, 2006 on money laundering, provides for the creation of a CENTIF. But members of the CENTIF are not yet appointed and this should be a priority for Burkina Faso based on the Directive of UEMOA Council of Ministers to all member States which calls for establishing this important unit by December 2007.

Intermediary license banks are authorized by a Bill of the Minister of Economy and Finance which sets the list of banks authorized to carry out operations financed from abroad. Authorizations to perform manual change operations by physical and legal persons other than the approved banks are issued by a Bill of the Minister of Economy and Finance, after due certification by the West African Central Bank (BCEAO). The Bank may require any supporting documents needed for the filing process. The filing process calls for several provisions specific to banks and financial institutions, including

(1) the obligation to send a report on the implementation of the overall AML mechanism in WAEMU member States to the Central Bank and to the Banking Commission, within two months from the end of the year, and

(2) the obligation on financial agencies other than banks and financial institutions to send to the Central Bank a report of their AML unit within a month from the close of the year.

This instruction, which sets the various due diligence measures, is a significant step in the institutional AML mechanisms of the WAEMU member States, and this includes Burkina Faso.