EXPOSE REASONS
In most UMOA member states, legislative and regulatory frameworks do not provide for specific provisions for the treatment of dormant assets in the books of financial institutions.

These assets consist, inter alia, of the credit balances of accounts opened in the books of credit institutions, Decentralized Financial Systems, postal financial services or National Savings Banks, which, during a Have not been the subject of any movement or transaction at the initiative of their owners; the latter no longer manifesting themselves, even after an attempt at contact by the depositary institution, at the address indicated in their Documentation.

In view of the legal vacuum in this area in most UEMOA member states, a differentiated approach to the treatment of such assets by depository institutions is observed. In some institutions, no action is taken for transparent management of such assets, which is liable to prejudice the interests of depositors. Other establishments tend to assert the rules of common law relating to the requirement in commercial or civil matters.

In view of the differing interpretations of the limitation periods in commercial or civil matters, the depositary institutions are exposed to the risk of disputes which may be against the holders of the assets concerned or their Entitled. These accounts could also give rise to internal fraud or malpractice, which would expose the financial bodies concerned to reputational risks.

To measure the phenomenon, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) has carried out a census of dormant assets with the banking system, microfinance institutions and the financial services of the postal service. Confirms the high number of accounts concerned and the importance of the accounts payable in the accounts.

In this way, there is a need to regulate the treatment of dormant assets within the Union, with a view to preserving the legal certainty of depository organisations and safeguarding the interests of savers.

In a participatory approach, the preliminary guidelines, inspired by the foreign experience in this field and taking account of the specific characteristics of the Union, were shared with all the stakeholders concerned, during the organised consultations, In 2011, in the Member States of the Union.

By Decision No. CM/UMOA/005/05/2012, on 10 May 2012, the Council of Ministers of UMOA approved these guidelines and requested that a draft specific legal framework for the treatment of dormant accounts in the books of financial institutions Of the member states of the UMOA.
This Uniform Law has been developed in this context. Its objectives, expected results, structure and content are set out below.

I. OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIFORM LAW
This Uniform Law shall cover the following main objectives:
Define the concept of dormant accounts;
Recall the obligations of the depositary institutions of the assets concerned;
Propose arrangements for the conservation and management of dormant assets;
Adopt uniform provisions on the prescription of rights and the devolution of dormant assets.

II. EXPECTED RESULTS
The main results expected from the adoption of this text are:
Better protection of the interests of users of financial services and their confidence in banking and financial institutions;
Reducing the risk of disputes between the financial institutions of the Union and holders of dormant assets or their successors in title, thereby contributing to the strengthening of the legal security of these institutions;
Preventing the risk of fraud and other misconduct involving the staff of financial institutions, thereby contributing to the preservation of their reputation;
The preservation of financial stability in the Member States of the Union.

III. STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF THE UNIFORM LAW
The Uniform Law shall be composed of twenty-four (24) articles divided into five (5) titles, in addition to the preliminary title devoted to the definition of the main terms used therein.

The first Title relating to the General Provisions (Articles 2 and 3) defines the subject matter and scope of the text, in particular the accounts concerned and bodies subject to the law.

Title II, 'Treatment of dormant accounts' ' (Articles 4 to 15), specifies in particular the research obligations of the holders of dormant accounts at the expense of the depositary bodies and the arrangements for the conservation of dormant assets by The BCEAO. It also deals with the procedure for claiming dormant assets by the holders or their successors in title, as well as the requirement and the devolution of such assets.

Title III deals with "Sanctions" (sections 16 to 20) against violators of the provisions of this Act.
Title IV on the transitional provisions (Articles 21 and 22) specifies, in particular, the special treatment of the States of the Union which already have dormant accounts legislation in their legal order.
Title V of the Uniform Law (Articles 23 and 24) deals with the "Final Provisions".
The National Assembly adopted at its meeting on Monday 30 December 2013,
The President of the Republic enacts the following legislation:

PRELIMINARY TITLE: DEFINITIONS

Article 1
For the purposes of this Act, the following shall be understood:
- " Sleepers " : financial assets held in a dormant account;
- " Having the right " : any natural or legal person who, by virtue of a legally established link with the holder, has the power to dispose of the financial assets held in the dormant account in place of the holder;
- " Central Bank " Or " BCEAO " : the Central Bank of West African States;
- " Banking Commission " : the Bank Commission of the West African Monetary Union;
- " Account " : a view account, a savings account, a securities account, a term deposit account or a notice account or any other account in which the assets held by the financial institutions on behalf of their clients are individualised;
- " Sleeping Account " : any account held in the books of a financial institution, which has not been the subject of any intervention for at least ten (10) years, on the part of the holder or his successors in title and of which the holder and his successors in title have not In spite of attempts by the financial institution to come into contact with them, in particular on the basis of documentation provided by the holder;
- " Intervention " : any operation of the holder or of a person entitled to the account or any contact of the holder or of a person entitled to the organization
Depositary;
- " Depositary Agency " The financial institution that contains the account on behalf of a holder;
- " Financial Organization " : any establishment of credit within the meaning of the banking regulation law in the member states of UMOA, any Decentralized Financial System (SFD) within the meaning of the law regulating SFD in the member states of the UMOA, as well as any Financial service of the Post Office or the Caisse Nationale d' Epargne;
- " Owner " : a natural or legal person on whose behalf an account is opened in the books of the financial institution;
- " UMOA " : the West African Monetary Union.

TITLE I. -GENERAL PROVISIONS
Single Chapter. -
Purpose and scope

Art. 2. -The purpose of this Law is to lay down the rules applicable to dormant accounts held in the books of the financial institutions of the member States of the UMOA, as defined in Article 1 above.

Not covered by this Act:
-the account that has not received any intervention from its holder for at least ten (10) years, when the latter has carried out, during that period, an intervention on the other accounts held in the books of the same financial institution Or has had contact with the said body;
-the account subject to special supervision as a result of a court or administrative decision;
-term deposits over the contractual period of ten (10) years or more.

Article 3. -Any financial organization operating in the territory of the Republic of Senegal, irrespective of its legal status, the place of its head office or principal place of business in the UMOA, shall be subject to the provisions of this Law.

TITLE II. -TREATMENT OF DORMANT ACCOUNTS

Chapter I. -Research obligations

Art. 4. -Depositary agencies are required to search for holders or beneficiaries of accounts which have not been the subject of any intervention for at least eight (8) years.
In the absence of results, research is continued over a period of two (2) years.

At the end of the second year of continuous research and failing to find the owners or their successors in title, the accounts concerned shall be considered dormant. The depositary institution shall, in this case, be required to follow the procedures referred to in Articles 6 and 7 of this Law.

The terms and conditions of search of the holders of the accounts referred to in the first paragraph of this Article shall be specified by a BCEAO instruction.

Chapter 2. -Evidence of intervention

Art. 5. -The evidence of the intervention of the holder or successors in title shall be borne by the depositary institution. It is established by all means.
The acknowledgement of receipt of correspondence shall, in particular, be deemed to be an intervention by the holder or his successors in title.
The depositary institution may use any means of communication to establish evidence of the intervention of the holder or of the right holders.

Chapter 3. -Arrangements for the conservation of dormant accounts
First Section. -Role of the depositary institution

Article 6. - If, in spite of the research referred to in Article 4 of this Law, the account concerned is not the subject of intervention by the holder or his successors in title, the depositary body shall be required to close it at the end of the tenth following year The last intervention.

Decommissioning of the dormant account shall result in the withdrawal of the costs of management and of any remuneration and of the associated tax charges.

Art. 7. -The assets held in the closed account shall be transferred to the BCEAO, thirty (30) days by the closing date.
The arrangements for the transfer of assets held in the closed accounts shall be determined by an instruction from the Central Bank.

Section 2. -Role of the BCEAO

Article 8. -The assets transferred to the BCEAO shall be retained by the BCEAO on behalf of the holder or his successors in title up to the expiration of twenty (20) years, from the date of transfer by the depositary institution.
The BCEAO places dormant assets kept in its books as a priority on government securities.
The BCEAO shall return the assets received at the request of the holder or his successors in title.

Chapter 4. -Procedure for claiming dormant assets

Art. 9. -Until the expiry of the twenty (20) year period referred to in Article 8 of this Law, any person who believes that he or she is the holder or a person entitled to the dormant assets transferred to the BCEAO may claim them by sending a written request to the Bank Central, with amdescent to the original depositary body.

Art. 10. -The claim made by a natural person must be accompanied by supporting documents relating to the identity of the author and to the right he claims to hold on the dormant assets. The identity of the author of the claim shall be justified by the presentation of a national identity card or any original official document, taking place, in the course of validity, and containing a photograph.

In the case of an estate, the persons concerned must produce, in addition to the documents required by the preceding paragraph, any authentic document attesting to their status as successors in title.

Art; 11 . Where the claim is made in the name of a legal person, including the cases of indivision, the person's representative must submit the documents attesting to the powers conferred on him or her.

In addition, it must provide documentary evidence of its identity by presenting a national identity card or any original official document, taking place, in the process of being valid, and containing a photograph. Proof of the professional or residential address of the representative shall be furnished by the presentation of any document of a nature to be established.

Also required, on the one hand, the original, the shipment or the certified copy of the articles, the extract from the Register of Commerce and of the Crédit Mobilier, the declaration of existence and/or any other act attesting in particular to the Legal form of the legal entity concerned and its registered office and, on the other hand, the document justifying its right to dormant assets.

Art. 12. -The arrangements for claiming dormant assets are specified by a BCEAO appraisal.

Chapter 5. -Publication of the list of dormant accounts

Art. 13. -During the entire period of the conservation of the funds, the BCEAO shall publish, by all appropriate means, the list of holders of dormant accounts whose balance has been transferred to its books.

The BCEAO may disclose data to the list of dormant accounts only to persons who establish their right to such accounts, to the judicial and supervisory authorities of the financial system, and to the National Cells of Financial Information Processing (CENTIF), as part of the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Chapter 6. -Issue and devolution of dormant assets

Art. 14. -The limitation period for dormant assets shall be thirty (30) years from the date of the last intervention of the holder of the account or his successors in title.

Art. 15 . At the end of the term referred to in Article 14 of this Law, the BCEAO shall transfer the unclaimed dormant assets to the State Treasury of the State of establishment of the initial depositary institution, within a maximum period of three (3) months. This transfer shall extinguished all rights in the relevant assets which are definitively acquired by the public treasury.

TITLE III. -SANCTIONS

Art. 16. -Non-compliance with the provisions of this Law by a Credit institution shall be found and sanctioned by the BCEAO or the Banking Commission, in accordance with the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act.

Article 17. - The failure to comply with the provisions of this Law by an SFD shall be found and punished, as the case may be, by the Banking Commission, the BCEAO or the Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the provisions of the framework law regulating SFD.

Art. 18. -The failure to comply with the provisions of this Law by a financial service of the Post or a Caisse Nationale d' Epargne is recognized and sanctioned by the Minister for Finance.

Art. 19. -shall be subject to a financial penalty, the amount of which shall be equal to one-quarter of the amount of the credit balance of the dormant account concerned, any depositary body which contravening the provisions of this Law.
In the event of a repeat offence, the sanction referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be set at one hundred per cent (100 %) of the balance of the said account.

Monetary penalties against a Credit Facility or SFD are taken, as the case may be, by the Banking Commission, the BCEAO or the Minister for Finance. Monetary penalties against a financial service of the Post or a Caisse Nationale d' Epargne are taken by the Minister for Finance.

The corresponding sums are recovered on behalf of the public treasury from the place of holding of the dormant account, as the case may be, by the Central Bank or by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 20. -In addition to the monetary penalties provided for in Article 19 of this Law:
-the Banking Commission may impose disciplinary sanctions against the Credit institutions, in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of the Annex to the Convention governing the Banking Commission;
-the Banking Commission, the BCEAO or the Ministry of Finance, as the case may be, may impose disciplinary sanctions against SFD.

TITLE IV. -TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Art. . Within three (3) months of the entry into force of this Law, the depositary institutions shall provide the BCEAO with a list of accounts which have not been the subject of any intervention for at least eight (8) years in Their books.
They shall, without delay, initiate the research referred to in Article 4 of this Law.

Art. . The provisions of Law No. 76-66 of 02 July 1976 on the Code of the State Field shall apply to financial institutions, as defined in Article 1 of this Law, until 31 December 2013.

Any claims or disputes concerning the assets used or managed by the State under the Act No. 76-66 of 02 July 1976 on the Code du Domaine de l' Etatare the responsibility of the Republic of Senegal.

All the necessary measures are taken by the State of Senegal, for the management of dormant accounts of which it has received the resources.

TITLE V. - FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 23. -This Law shall enter into force on 1 January 2014.
All previous provisions to the contrary shall be repealed as of that date.
This Law shall be enforced as the law of the State.
Done at Dakar, 6 January 2014

By the President of the Republic:

Macky SALL.

The Prime Minister,
Aminata TOUR