Bank of Ghana rolls out new anti-money laundering rules for agency banking

The Bank of Ghana has introduced a new set of rules to tighten anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls in agency banking across the financial sector.

The AML/CFT/CPF Agency Banking Guidelines, which take immediate effect, are issued under section 101(2)(j) of the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987) and section 52(5)(e)(i) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).

They apply to banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions, electronic money issuers, payment service providers, and any other institution licensed by the central bank to deploy agents.

According to the Bank of Ghana, the guidelines are intended to help “principals” – the licensed institutions – design and implement risk-based AML/CFT/CPF compliance programmes, and to ensure that their agents understand and comply with all relevant laws and regulatory obligations.

The document is organised around key themes including corporate governance and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.

On governance, the rules make clear that the Board and Management of each principal remain ultimately responsible for enforcing AML/CFT/CPF standards across their agent networks. Boards must approve and formally document a risk assessment of agency banking, prepared by management, and review it at least every two years or whenever there is a major change in risk.

On customer due diligence, principals are required to ensure that agents consistently apply KYC, Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) policies and procedures in line with the institution’s own frameworks and regulatory standards.