SPECIFIC SANCTIONS APPLICABLE TO FINANCE ESTABLISHMENTS IN CAMEROON RELATED TO CHEQUES
Subject Institutions according to the CEMAC regulations are entities that issue or accept means of payment in Cameroon and CEMAC. These include:
- Credit institutions as defined by the Convention of January 17, 1992, on the harmonization of banking regulations in the States of Central Africa;
- Microfinance institutions as defined by Regulation No. 01/02/CEMAC/UMAS/COVAC/CM of April 13, 2002, concerning the conditions for carrying out and monitoring microfinance activities in the CEMAC region;
- The Public Treasury and postal checking services, subject to the specificities related to their status;
- Other authorized institutions.
A fine of 100,000 to 3,000,000 CFA francs is imposed on the drawee bank that, as the case may be:
- Indicates a provision lower than the existing and available provision;
- Rejects a check due to insufficient or unavailable funds without indicating, when applicable, that the check was issued in violation of a banking ban or a court order;
- Has not declared, under the prescribed conditions, payment incidents and the offenses stipulated in Articles 239, 240, 243, 245, and 246 of the regulation:
- Violates the provisions of Articles 12, paragraph 2; 199, paragraph 1; and 226 to 234 of the regulations.
Notwithstanding the absence, insufficiency, or unavailability of funds, the drawee institution must pay any check issued by its client or their agent using a form issued in violation of the provisions of Article 228 of the law, or issued to a person known to it to be subject to a banking or judicial ban on issuing checks, particularly due to information transmitted by the Central Bank pursuant to Article 219 of the regulation.
Similarly, the obligated institution must honour the payments carried out by its client, via a payment card if it has not complied with the provisions set out in articles 167 paragraph 2 and 228 of the regulation.