WAMU Banking Commission: oversight and sanctions for banks
What is the WAMU Banking Commission?
The WAMU Banking Commission is the common supervisory authority for the banks and financial institutions of the eight states of the West African Monetary Union. Created by a convention that was signed in Ouagadougou on 24 April 1990, it contributes to uniform supervision of banking activity and ensures the protection of depositors and the stability of the financial system.
Organisation of the WAMU Banking Commission
The convention entered into force on 1 October 1990. The Commission has two distinct bodies: the Supervision Board, which handles day-to-day supervision and sanctions, and the Resolution Board, which validates the preventive recovery and resolution plans of systemically important banks. In 2025, these two boards together held eight sessions in total, seven of them for supervision and one for resolution.
A General Secretariat supports the boards. In 2025 it received a compliance unit responsible for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, created by a decision of the Governor dated 31 July 2025.
Banking supervision powers in the WAMU
The Commission grants and withdraws licences, carries out both off-site document-based and on-site inspections of the institutions that are subject to its supervision, takes administrative measures, imposes disciplinary sanctions and, where necessary, appoints provisional administrators or liquidators. It also acts as home supervisory authority for the supervision of cross-border banking groups.
At the end of December 2025, it was monitoring 493 institutions: 161 credit institutions, 21 financial holding companies, 293 large microfinance institutions, 18 electronic money institutions and 39 systemically important banking institutions, national or regional, some of which hold both statuses.
Inspections and sanctions by the Banking Commission
According to the annual report of the Commission, 82 on-site inspection missions were carried out in 2025: 38 at credit institutions, 5 at financial holding companies, 3 at electronic money institutions and 36 at microfinance institutions. Eight systemically important institutions were also examined remotely, on credit risk in particular.
The measures of 2025 comprise 40 injunctions, one caution, 30 reprimands and 6 warnings, almost always accompanied by financial penalties. Four credit institutions and two microfinance institutions were placed under close monitoring. New sanctions against banks in the zone were again made public in 2026.
Health of the WAMU banking sector
For 2025, the Commission reports an average solvency ratio of 15.6% in the banking sector, above the minimum standard of 11.5%. The gross portfolio deterioration rate stands at 9.1%, against 9.3% in 2024. Large microfinance institutions show a capitalisation ratio of 9.4%, below the regulatory threshold of 15.0%.
Electronic money accounts reached a total of 172.9 million, of which 35.1% were active accounts, and the outstanding amount of electronic money in circulation rose by 35.2%.