Comoros Islands Get Go-Ahead For Second Bank

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

16 October 2002

Following reports that the government of Anjouan is eager to push ahead with the introduction of competition to the jurisdiction's domestic banking sector, it has emerged that the Banque Centrale des Comores (BCC) has agreed in principle that a second banking institution, the Banque de la Reunion, can establish a presence in the Comoros Islands.

Currently, the Banque de l'Industrie et du Commerce (BIC), an affiliate of France's BNP Paribas Group, commands a banking monopoly on the Islands. However, reports in the local media last month revealed that: 'the government of Anjouan is conscious that the Island's economic and commercial development cannot take place with a single commercial bank in a situation of monopoly,' so the BCC's October 7 decision must have come as a great relief.

Meanwhile, the Africa Intelligence news service reported, it has been a busy time for the Comoros central bank, which was recently invested with new anti-money laundering and terrorist financing responsibilities, and appointed a new governor, after a year without one.

Ban Ali, a long-time member of the BCC team was appointed to the position unanimously by the central bank's board for a period of five years, according to Africa Intelligence.

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