Cote d'Ivoire Compliance Report

Generated 2026-09-22

Partially Regulated

Regulatory Overview

Regulatory Status: Some rules exist but significant gaps; draft legislation or limited guidance
Key Regulator(s): Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy and Finance of Cote, Central Bank of West African States, CENTIF-CI and the Commission
Primary Legislation: Directive n° 03/2018/CM/UEMOA on the harmonisation of payment services regulation, no specific regulation, Under BCEAO PSP/EMI Regulation, Instruction n° 001/2021/PCMF/COS-UMOA of January 12, 2021 on the Regulation of Public Offerings of Digital Assets, There is no dedicated crypto-asset law in Cote d'Ivoire, but virtual assets and
Travel Rule: Adopted — Threshold: €1,000
Tax Reporting: No specific legislation: As of the latest information, Côte d'Ivoire has not enacted specific laws or regulations solely dedicated to the taxation of cryptocurrencies or virtual assets.. All tax matters related to cryptocurrencies are therefore subject to interpretation under the Code Général des Impôts (CGI), whose provisions are continuously evolving due to regular updates, including annual finance laws and new editions for years like 2025 and 2026, covering income tax, corporate tax, VAT, and other duties.. If an individual buys and sells cryptocurrencies occasionally, and makes a profit, these gains could be considered as part of their Impôt Général sur le Revenu (IGR - General Income Tax), which is progressive.. Gains from the sale of shares in a Côte d’Ivoire company are subject to a 1% registration duty (or a capital gains withholding tax on direct share transfers), but there is no specific flat tax or explicit guidance for crypto assets, which remain under the default IGR regime.. The IGR (general income tax) in Côte d’Ivoire is progressive, with rates starting at 0% and a top marginal rate that is significantly lower than 60%, according to official 2025-2026 DGI scales.

Key Facts

aml No Ivorian AML/CFT instrument numbered 'Ordonnance n° 2019-1089 du 18 décembre 2019' or 'Loi n° 2014-393 du 20 juin 2014' exists. Côte d'Ivoire's AML/CFT statutory chain is: Loi n° 2005-554 du 2 décembre 2005 → Loi n° 2016-992 du 14 novembre 2016 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment des capitaux et le financement du terrorisme → Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux, le financement du terrorisme et de la prolifération des armes de destruction massive, which is Côte d'Ivoire's transposition of the UMOA Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP du 31 mars 2023. Both instruments are non-existent, so nothing was 'modified and strengthened'. The core AML/CFT text for Côte d'Ivoire is now Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, which transposes the UMOA Loi uniforme du 31 mars 2023 and replaces Loi n° 2016-992 du 14 novembre 2016. Côte d'Ivoire is a GIABA member, not a FATF member; FATF standards reach it via the UMOA uniform law and GIABA follow-up. Under Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, PSAV (prestataires de services d'actifs virtuels) are named expressly: art. 2(2) defines 'actif virtuel', art. 2(51) defines PSAV — covering exchange virtual-asset/fiat, exchange between virtual assets, transfer, 'conservation et/ou administration d'actifs virtuels' and participation in issuer offers — and art. 3 lists PSAV alongside institutions financières and EPNFD (DNFBPs) as assujettis. VASPs are therefore explicitly named, not swept in by analogy. The 2002 UEMOA anti-money-laundering instrument no longer forms part of the applicable framework. The regional chain now runs: Directive n° 04/2007/CM/UEMOA du 4 juillet 2007 (financement du terrorisme) → Directive n° 02/2015/CM/UEMOA du 2 juillet 2015 → Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP adoptée par le Conseil des Ministres de l'UMOA le 31 mars 2023, complétée par la Décision n° 021/CM/UMOA du 21 décembre 2023 et la Décision n° 003/CM/UMOA du 28 mars 2024 (seuils) et les Instructions BCEAO n° 001-03-2025 à 003-03-2025 du 18 mars 2025. In Côte d'Ivoire the applicable text is Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023. Correct that the UEMOA/UMOA layer sets the framework and that member states must transpose it, but the mechanism is misstated: a UEMOA règlement is directly applicable and needs no transposition, whereas directives and the UMOA loi uniforme do. The current instrument is the Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP adopted by the Conseil des Ministres de l'UMOA on 31 March 2023, which Côte d'Ivoire transposed by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 (Senegal: Loi n° 2024-08; Benin: Loi n° 2024-01; Burkina Faso: Loi n° 046-2024/ALT). The substance is right — crypto-assets are not legal tender in the UEMOA, are not regulated by the BCEAO, and no operational VASP licensing regime exists; and the absence of a bespoke regime does not displace AML/CFT obligations (Ordonnance n° 2023-875, art. 3, makes PSAV assujettis outright). Two corrections: (i) the three communiqué dates (12 December 2013, 5 December 2017, 22 May 2018) could not be verified — the BCEAO's current avis et mises en garde index shows no crypto warnings at those dates; (ii) 'no formal licensing regime' overstates the position — art. 58 of the uniform law as transposed does prohibit carrying on PSAV activity without prior agrément or authorisation, but art. 59 defers all PSAV-specific requirements to a competent authority that no UEMOA state, including Côte d'Ivoire, has designated, so the requirement exists on paper and is inoperative. The BCEAO created its C-CRYPTO drafting committee in May 2026 and held a Dakar conference on 8 May 2026; Governor Kassi Brou (July 2026): 'Ce n'est pas une monnaie. Ce n'est pas réglementé.' The verification standard is correct and is in force in Côte d'Ivoire: Ordonnance n° 2023-875, art. 17, requires assujettis to identify the client and 'vérifier leur identité au moyen de documents, sources, données ou renseignements indépendants et fiables'. The enumerated data elements (name, date and place of birth, nationality, address, profession, ID number) are not set out in that article; they are fixed by BCEAO Instruction n° 003-03-2025 du 18 mars 2025 relative à l'identification, la vérification de l'identité et la connaissance de la clientèle, whose text was not read. For Legal Persons/Entities (e.g., businesses): Obtaining and verifying the company's name, legal form, address of registered office, registration number, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and identifying the directors and persons authorized to represent the legal person.
custody The BCEAO's formal position is articulated in its September 2021 communiqué warning against cryptocurrencies, which serves as the primary regulatory reference. While direct links to subsequent specific custody-related communiqués are not publicly available in English, the 2021 communiqué and BCEAO's broader publications on financial innovation (e.g., digital payments) consistently reiterate a cautious approach to non-fiat digital assets. A widely cited stance, though not a specific custody rule, is their consistent warning against crypto: The substance is correct — crypto-assets are not legal tender in UEMOA, are not issued or regulated by the BCEAO, and the BCEAO has publicly urged caution (Governor Kassi Brou, 2026: 'Ce n'est pas une monnaie. Ce n'est pas réglementé. Donc soyez prudents.'). But the passage in quotation marks is not an actual BCEAO text; the record itself concedes it is a synthesis ('This general statement reflects numerous communiqués over the years'), so it must not be cited as a quotation. It is also now incomplete: since May 2026 the BCEAO has been actively drafting a UMOA crypto framework through the C-CRYPTO committee. The BCEAO's official website (https://www.bceao.int/) designates its "Publications" and "News" sections, primarily in French, as the official channels for updates on its stance regarding digital currencies. No direct "custody regulation" document exists on the site as of this date. There are no specific BCEAO licensing requirements for crypto custody, as cryptocurrencies are not recognized or regulated by the BCEAO. However, entities engaged in activities that intersect with traditional financial services (e.g., handling fiat currency, money transfers, or operating as a bank or payment institution) are subject to existing WAEMU financial licensing requirements, including AML/KYC obligations under the BCEAO's regulatory framework. National-level business licensing (e.g., registration with the Commercial Court in Côte d'Ivoire) also applies. Segregation of Client Assets Rules: The BCEAO's regulatory framework does not include specific rules for the segregation of cryptocurrency assets. While BCEAO regulations mandate segregation for fiduciaires in the traditional financial system (e.g., for securities maintained by investment service providers), these regulations explicitly exclude digital assets not recognized as financial instruments. Entities holding crypto assets may still be subject to general consumer protection or business contract laws at the national level in Côte d'Ivoire, but no specific segregation mandate from the BCEAO exists. The BCEAO has not issued any mandates requiring insurance or bonding for digital asset custodians. This is consistent with the broader lack of regulation for crypto assets. However, entities that also operate as traditional financial institutions may be subject to existing insurance/bonding requirements for their licensed activities (e.g., operational risk insurance for banks), but these do not specifically cover crypto custody. The absence of such protections increases risk for users in the event of loss, theft, or custodian insolvency.
enforcement Entity Targeted: General public and financial institutions operating within the UEMOA zone (including Côte d'Ivoire). Violation Type: While not a "violation" in the traditional sense, the BCEAO's consistent stance warns against the use, holding, or facilitation of transactions involving cryptocurrencies, emphasizing their speculative nature, lack of regulatory oversight, and potential for fraud and money laundering. It effectively "enforces" a non-recognition policy. Penalty Amount: Not applicable, as this is a general regulatory stance and warning, not a specific penalty against an entity. Outcome: A clear declaration that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender, are not regulated, and pose significant risks. Financial institutions are generally dissuaded from engaging with them. This discourages formal crypto operations. Outcome: A clear declaration that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender, are not regulated, and pose significant risks. Financial institutions are generally dissuaded from engaging with them. This discourages formal crypto operations.
general No authority is competent for virtual assets in Côte d'Ivoire: art. 58-59 of the loi uniforme of 31 March 2023, transposed by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, reserve PSAV authorisation to an 'autorité compétente' that has not been designated. Naming a single regulator is misleading. The actual division is: BCEAO for banks, e-money and payment institutions across UMOA; AMF-UMOA (ex-CREPMF, headquartered in Abidjan but a regional not Ivorian body) for securities and appel public à l'épargne; CENTIF-CI for STRs and financial intelligence; and the Commission Nationale des Sanctions (Ordonnance n° 2022-237; Décret n° 2024-58) for AML/CFT administrative sanctions. Entity Targeted: General public and financial institutions operating within the UEMOA zone (including Côte d'Ivoire). BCEAO has repeatedly warned the public that crypto-assets are neither money nor a regulated financial product — Governor Jean-Claude Kassi Brou: « Ce n'est pas une monnaie. Ce n'est pas réglementé. Donc soyez prudents » — and cites volatility, anonymity of cross-border transfers and cyber-risk. But it is a warning, not an enforcement or non-recognition policy: BCEAO has not prohibited holding or use, and since Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 (art. 3, c) prestataires de services d'actifs virtuels are expressly assujettis to Ivorian AML/CFT obligations, so crypto activity is legally acknowledged rather than 'non-recognised'. BCEAO set up a committee in May 2026 to draft the crypto-asset framework. Penalty Amount: Not applicable, as this is a general regulatory stance and warning, not a specific penalty against an entity. The BCEAO has made pronouncements since 2018, with the most prominent communiqué dated October 2021, but the stance has evolved to include a March 2025 technical note on DeFi, signaling a shift from outright prohibition to cautious engagement. Verified elements: BCEAO states that crypto-assets are not legal tender and are not regulated in the UMOA, and warns of volatility, cross-border anonymity and cyber-risk. Not verified: that financial institutions are 'generally dissuaded from engaging with them' — no BCEAO circular, instruction or supervisory notice to that effect was located, and the cited 'Rapport_Annuel_2024_BCEAO_Stabilite_Financiere.pdf' does not exist (URL serves the BCEAO homepage). While specific press releases can be hard to pinpoint over time, the BCEAO's official position is consistently reported in its annual reports (2022-2025) and technical notes, such as the March 2025 DeFi note. The cited URL is not a communiqué page: it was fetched and returns the BCEAO homepage. No BCEAO communiqué of October 2021 on cryptocurrencies could be verified at that address. The verifiable BCEAO crypto communications are the 8 May 2026 international conference page and the Governor's July 2026 statements.
licensing Règlement n° 06/2024/CM/UEMOA is real (signed at Bamako on 20 December 2024, relatif aux relations financières extérieures des Etats membres de l'UEMOA, applied from 1 August 2025 through 15 BCEAO instructions n°01 to 15/07/2025/RFE), but it is a foreign-exchange/external-settlements instrument and contains no rules on actifs virtuels or crypto-actifs. It does not create any virtual-asset framework. The only virtual-asset rule binding in Côte d'Ivoire is the AML/CFT layer: the UMOA uniform law of 31 March 2023, transposed nationally by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, which defines 'actif virtuel' (art. 2, 2°) and 'prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels' (art. 2, 51°) and makes PSAV assujettis (art. 3, c). No competent authority has been designated, so no licensing regime is operational. BCEAO's Cautious Stance: The BCEAO has historically adopted a cautious, and at times prohibitive, stance towards cryptocurrencies due to concerns about monetary stability, consumer protection, money laundering, and illicit financing. They have issued warnings to financial institutions and the public about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Côte d'Ivoire is not a FATF member; it is a GIABA member and is assessed by GIABA. Its second-round mutual evaluation was conducted by GIABA (on-site visit 6-24 June 2022, MER adopted 2023), not by an IMF-led team, and has been followed by three enhanced follow-up reports (2024, 2025, 2026). Côte d'Ivoire was under FATF increased monitoring during 2025 — it is on the EU high-risk third-country list from 5 August 2025 (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1184), which mirrors the FATF grey list, and it was not among the countries de-listed at the October 2025 plenary (Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa). No evidence was found that its FATF action plan includes VASP regulation; the UEMOA-level VASP framework is still only in drafting (BCEAO C-CRYPTO committee, May 2026). There is no BCEAO licence category for virtual-asset service providers. BCEAO agrément as an établissement de monnaie électronique (Instruction n°008-05-2015 du 21 mai 2015, art. 8; minimum capital 300,000,000 FCFA, art. 11) or as a payment institution (Instruction n°001-01-2024 du 23 janvier 2024) is required only where the firm actually issues e-money or provides payment services; neither instrument mentions crypto-actifs or actifs virtuels. A crypto exchange as such cannot obtain, and is not required to hold, either licence. URLs: These directives are typically found on the official BCEAO website, often in the "Texts & Regulations" or "Publications" sections. BCEAO Official Website: https://www.bceao.int/ (You'd need to navigate to the "Textes & Réglementations" section to find the specific directives). Required Compliance: Entities, even if not explicitly licensed for crypto, should adhere to general AML/CFT obligations if they deal with financial transactions. Once a specific VASP framework is established, these will be mandatory. URL: Again, available on the BCEAO website in the regulatory section.
sanctions Basis: UN Security Council Resolutions are legally binding on all UN member states, including Côte d'Ivoire. These resolutions typically impose asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes on individuals, entities, and countries deemed threats to international peace and security (e.g., related to terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, specific regimes like North Korea or Iran). Asset Freeze: VASPs must immediately freeze any virtual assets (and traditional assets) owned or controlled by designated individuals or entities. Côte d'Ivoire does impose reporting duties on assujettis, but the record collapses two distinct channels. Suspicious-transaction reporting goes to CENTIF-CI under the LBC/FT/FP regime transposed by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 (art. 60 of the UMOA uniform law of 31 March 2023). Targeted-financial-sanctions matters — asset freezes, attempted transactions with designated persons — run through the dedicated national SFC machinery created by Décret n° 2024-216 du 17 avril 2024 (mise en œuvre des sanctions financières ciblées liées au FT et au FP), with a Comité de Coordination du Gel Administratif whose composition and functions are set by Arrêté n° 0487/MFB/CAB du 7 juin 2024 and list-dissemination modalities by Arrêté interministériel n° 0482/MFB/MAEIAIE du 28 juin 2024. So CENTIF is not the sole or even the primary addressee for freeze reporting. Additionally, in practice no virtual-asset service provider is subject to any of this in an operational sense, since no PSAV agrément exists in CI. UN Security Council Sanctions Committees: https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/information The second half is right, the first half is wrong. The general obligation is indeed enshrined in national law: Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux, le financement du terrorisme et le financement de la prolifération transposes the UMOA uniform law of 31 March 2023, and Côte d'Ivoire was the first UEMOA state to transpose it. But Côte d'Ivoire does not implement UN sanctions through 'many' resolution-by-resolution decrees. CENTIF-CI's own complete dated register shows a single consolidated targeted-financial-sanctions framework — Décret n° 2024-216 du 17 avril 2024, plus Arrêté n° 0487/MFB/CAB du 7 juin 2024 (Comité de Coordination du Gel Administratif) and Arrêté interministériel n° 0482/MFB/MAEIAIE du 28 juin 2024 (dissemination of designation lists) — designed to give effect to UNSC designations generically and without fresh national instruments per resolution, alongside the administrative-sanctions regime of Ordonnance n° 2022-237 du 30 mars 2022 and Décret n° 2024-58 du 14 février 2024 (Commission Nationale des Sanctions). Basis: OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions primarily against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States. Extraterritorial Reach: OFAC sanctions can apply to non-U.S. persons (including VASPs) if: They engage in transactions involving a U.S. person.
securities Directorate General of Financing (DGF): Responsible for managing the public debt and overseeing financial markets in Côte d'Ivoire. Website: https://www.dgf.gouv.ci/ Ministry of Economy, Finance and Budget: Sets macroeconomic policies and financial regulations. Website: https://www.finances.ci/ Bank of Central African States (BCEAO): Oversees monetary policy and banking regulation in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). Website: https://www.bcea.org/ Law on Public Debt Management (LPDM): Governs the management of public debt, but does not specifically address digital assets. Date: 2018. Status: In force. Financial Transactions Reporting Law (LTF): Mandates reporting of suspicious financial activities; indirectly affects crypto transactions. Date: 2019. Status: In force. General Anti-Money Laundering Law (LAM): Provides a framework for AML/CFT measures across financial sectors, including potential indirect coverage of digital assets. Date: 2020. Status: In force. FATF (Financial Action Task Force): Côte d'Ivoire is listed as a "jurisdiction under enhanced monitoring" due to deficiencies in AML/CFT regimes, which may impact the treatment of crypto-related transactions. Source: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/ Traditional banking and financial services (not explicitly covering crypto).
stablecoin The regulatory landscape for stablecoins in Côte d'Ivoire is currently evolving, with a focus on ensuring financial stability and consumer protection while fostering innovation. The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) and the Ivorian regulatory authorities are actively considering frameworks to govern stablecoin operations within the region. Entities issuing or operating stablecoins may require licensing from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) to ensure compliance with monetary policy and financial stability objectives. Stablecoin service providers must implement robust Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures to mitigate financial crime risks. Regulatory bodies have the authority to impose penalties, including fines and suspension of operations, for non-compliance with stablecoin regulations. The Ivorian tax authority is reviewing the tax implications of stablecoin transactions, including potential taxable events such as issuance, redemption, and transfers. Current regulatory gaps include insufficient clarity on the classification of stablecoins as money transmission services versus digital assets, posing risks to market participants and regulators alike. Stablecoins Are Already Here. Africa's Regulators Must ...
status No dedicated crypto-asset framework and no licensing system operates in Cote d'Ivoire. But it is wrong to say no national law exists: Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 (the first UEMOA transposition of the UMOA loi uniforme of 31 March 2023) defines actif virtuel (art. 2-2) and prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels (art. 2-51, including custody), makes PSAV assujettis (art. 3), and art. 58 forbids professional PSAV activity without prior agrement. What is missing is the designated competent authority (art. 59), so no licence can be obtained or enforced. BCEAO oversees monetary policy and payment systems across the UMOA and licenses electronic-money issuers under Instruction n° 008-05-2015 - but that instruction 'regit les conditions et modalites d'exercice des activites des emetteurs de monnaie electronique' (agrement, capital, backing, redemption); it is not an AML instrument and contains no crypto provisions. AML/CFT obligations flow from the loi uniforme of 31 March 2023 as transposed by Ordonnance n° 2023-875. CENTIF-CI (Cellule Nationale de Traitement des Informations Financieres) is the Ivorian FIU and receives suspicious transaction reports. The law requires declarations to be made 'immediatement' (art. 60 of the loi uniforme / Ordonnance n° 2023-875) - there is no 48-hour deadline in the text. No cash-transaction threshold is fixed by the law itself: art. 21 defers thresholds to the competent authority, and they are set by BCEAO Decision n° 021 du 21 decembre 2023 and Decision n° 003 du 28 mars 2024; the XOF 5,000,000 figure could not be verified. UEMOA Banking Commission (Commission Bancaire de l'UEMOA): Enforces BCEAO directives via inspections, sanctions, and collaboration on AML/CFT for financial institutions and fintechs. GIABA (Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa): Provides regional AML oversight; Côte d'Ivoire is under FATF increased monitoring. Instruction n° 008-05-2015 is real and governs the conditions for exercising the activity of electronic-money issuers in the UMOA; it does NOT apply to cryptocurrencies, directly or indirectly - it contains no reference to crypto-actifs, actifs virtuels or monnaies virtuelles, and BCEAO's payment-systems index contains no crypto instrument at all. Virtual assets are caught instead by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 (arts. 2-2, 2-51, 3, 58). There is no dedicated crypto-asset law in Cote d'Ivoire, but virtual assets and PSAV are already defined and made assujettis by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, with a statutory prior-agrement requirement (art. 58) that is inoperative for want of a designated competent authority (art. 59). Future dedicated rules are expected from the regional level: BCEAO created the C-CRYPTO drafting committee in May 2026. Crypto trading is in practice untouched by any operational licensing regime and enjoys no legal recognition or consumer protection - but 'without prohibition' is wrong: art. 58 of the loi uniforme, transposed by Ordonnance n° 2023-875, provides that 'Nul ne peut se livrer a l'activite professionnelle de prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels s'il n'a pas obtenu l'agrement ou l'autorisation prealable de l'autorite competente.' Unlicensed professional PSAV activity is therefore statutorily prohibited; it is simply unenforced because no competent authority has been designated.
tax No specific legislation: As of the latest information, Côte d'Ivoire has not enacted specific laws or regulations solely dedicated to the taxation of cryptocurrencies or virtual assets. All tax matters related to cryptocurrencies are therefore subject to interpretation under the Code Général des Impôts (CGI), whose provisions are continuously evolving due to regular updates, including annual finance laws and new editions for years like 2025 and 2026, covering income tax, corporate tax, VAT, and other duties. If an individual buys and sells cryptocurrencies occasionally, and makes a profit, these gains could be considered as part of their Impôt Général sur le Revenu (IGR - General Income Tax), which is progressive. Gains from the sale of shares in a Côte d’Ivoire company are subject to a 1% registration duty (or a capital gains withholding tax on direct share transfers), but there is no specific flat tax or explicit guidance for crypto assets, which remain under the default IGR regime. The IGR (general income tax) in Côte d’Ivoire is progressive, with rates starting at 0% and a top marginal rate that is significantly lower than 60%, according to official 2025-2026 DGI scales. Côte d'Ivoire has no crypto-specific and no short-term capital gains tax. Capital gains realised by a company are 'taxed at full corporate rates' — i.e. included in ordinary taxable profit and subject to corporate income tax at 25% (30% for telecommunications/IT/communication companies) — with optional deferral of the gain (excluding depreciation recapture) if the proceeds are reinvested within three years. Gains on direct share sales fall under IRVM instead. There is no 20% capital gains rate. The standard corporate income tax rate in Côte d'Ivoire is 25% of taxable profit. The 30% rate applies to telecommunications, information technology and communication companies — not to banks, which are taxed at the standard 25%. A minimum tax (impôt minimum forfaitaire) of 0.5% of turnover applies, floor XOF 3 million and cap XOF 35 million, reduced to 0.15% for banks, financial institutions, insurers and reinsurers and 0.1% for petroleum-product and utility companies. Habitual/professional crypto activity by an individual would be classified as BIC or BNC, but the 60% top marginal rate and the '50 million CFA francs' threshold do not exist. Ordonnance n° 2023-718 du 13 septembre 2023 merged the impôt sur salaires, contribution nationale and IGR into a single progressive tax on salaries and wages whose top marginal rate is 32%, applying above XOF 8,000,000 of monthly income.
travel rule No crypto travel rule is in force in Côte d'Ivoire, or anywhere in UEMOA. The originator/beneficiary information duties are articles 39–47 of the Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP du 31 mars 2023 (transposed in Côte d'Ivoire by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023). Article 39 opens 'Les institutions financières qui effectuent des virements électroniques nationaux, intracommunautaires et internationaux sont tenues d'obtenir et de vérifier, concernant le donneur d'ordre...' — those articles bind only 'institutions financières', a category art. 2(41) defines separately from 'prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels' (art. 2(51)), and they make no reference to virtual assets. Article 58 requires prior agrément for PSAV activity but no competent authority has been designated, and no BCEAO instruction imposes travel-rule obligations on PSAV. 'Directive n° 02/2021/CM/UEMOA du 29 mars 2021' does not exist. The regional AML/CFT directive was Directive n° 02/2015/CM/UEMOA, superseded by the Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP du 31 mars 2023, which Côte d'Ivoire transposed by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023. The uniform law does address virtual assets and PSAV (arts. 2(2), 2(51), 3(c), 58, 59), but it contains no travel-rule obligation for PSAV. URL (Official Journal of UEMOA): While a direct link to the directive's text might require specific access to UEMOA's official journal, references to it are widespread in BCEAO documents. 'BCEAO Instruction n° 003/2022/RB du 17 novembre 2022' does not exist. BCEAO instructions are numbered nnn-mm-yyyy (e.g. 008-05-2015, 001-03-2021); the '/RB' form is never used, and the BCEAO instrument index contains no instrument of that number or of that date. No BCEAO instruction brings PSAV into the scope of supervised entities: PSAV are made assujettis by art. 3(c) of the Loi uniforme du 31 mars 2023, transposed in Côte d'Ivoire by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, and art. 59 leaves PSAV-specific requirements to a competent authority that has not been designated. URL (BCEAO - often available in regulatory sections): While direct links can be ephemeral, you can often find a listing on the BCEAO website's regulatory texts section. A common search phrase for official documents is "Instruction BCEAO LAB/CFT PSAV." 'Loi n° 2016-1110 du 8 décembre 2016' does not exist. Côte d'Ivoire's prior AML/CFT statute was Loi n° 2016-992 du 14 novembre 2016 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux et le financement du terrorisme; it has been replaced by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, which transposes the UMOA Loi uniforme du 31 mars 2023 and is the operative framework. It is also wrong that 'the specifics for VASPs are mostly derived from the BCEAO texts': there are no BCEAO texts on PSAV. The ordonnance makes PSAV assujettis (art. 3(c)) and requires prior agrément (art. 58), while art. 59 defers PSAV-specific requirements to a competent authority that has never been designated — so no VASP-specific rules, and no travel rule, are operative. No 'BCEAO Instruction n° 003/2022/RB' exists. BCEAO instructions are numbered nnn-mm-yyyy (e.g. 008-05-2015, 001-01-2024); the '/RB' suffix is not a BCEAO numbering convention. CENTIF-CI's complete dated register of Ivorian LBC/FT instruments lists no such instruction and no travel-rule instrument of any kind. The operative Ivorian text is Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 (transposing the UMOA uniform law of 31 March 2023), whose originator/beneficiary rules (arts. 39-47) are drafted for institutions financieres — defined separately from PSAV at art. 2 — so no crypto travel rule obligation exists for PSAV in Cote d'Ivoire and none took effect in November 2022. There is no EUR 1,000 virtual-asset travel-rule threshold in force in Cote d'Ivoire. Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 places the originator/beneficiary information duties in arts. 39-47 on institutions financieres only; art. 2 defines PSAV as a distinct category, and art. 59 defers all PSAV-specific requirements to a competent authority that Cote d'Ivoire has not designated. The threshold figure is also denominated in the wrong currency — UEMOA thresholds are set in FCFA (see Decision n° 021 du 21/12/2023/CM/UMOA on seuils). The EUR 1,000 figure is FATF Recommendation 16 boilerplate, not Ivorian law.

Sources

This report is AI-generated from publicly available regulatory sources. Last updated: 2026-09-22. View full profile