Credit institutions, financial companies and decentralized financial systems (DFSs) must close their accounts on December 31 of each year.

The accounts must be certified as true and accurate by one or more auditors, selected from the list of auditors approved by the Court of Appeal or any other authorized body in lieu thereof. The selection of the auditor is subject to the approval of the Banking Commission.

No one may perform the duties of statutory auditor of any of the above-mentioned institutions unless his or her appointment by the said institution has received the prior approval of the Banking Commission.

The approval procedure is determined by the Banking Commission.

With respect to credit institutions and financial companies, Circular No. 02-2018/CB/C of September 18, 2018, on the terms and conditions for performing statutory audits of WAMU credit institutions and financial companies, provides that statutory auditors must have the approval of the Banking Commission prior to performing their duties (Article 9).

Regarding decentralized financial systems, Instruction No. 006-06-2010 of June 14, 2010, on statutory audits in the decentralized financial systems (DFSs) of the Member States of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU), especially its appendix, states that the appointment of a statutory auditor and their alternate, for the DFSs subject to Article 44 of the law applicable to those institutions, is subject to the approval of the WAMU Banking Commission. With respect to other DFSs, the auditor and his or her alternate are selected subject to approval by the Minister of Finance.

When processing applications for approval of the appointment or renewal of auditors’ mandates, the Banking Commission reviews the following points :

1. With regard to credit institutions and financial companies :

• the addressee of the application, i.e., the Chairman of the Banking Commission ;
• the filing of the application with the National Directorate of the BCEAO in the country where the regulated institution is located ;
• the identity of the natural persons designated to represent the selected accounting firms in the framework of their missions ;
• the specification of the term of office and the financial years concerned by the application ;
• the submission of the required documents, namely :

• a copy of the minutes of the General or Constitutive Meeting during which the statutory auditors were appointed or their mandate renewed ;
• a note presenting the selected accounting firm and/or a résumé dated and signed by the natural persons ;
• certificates of registration with the ONECCA, and ;
• the written undertakings of the statutory auditors.

2. With respect to DFSs :

• an application for approval of the prospective Statutory Auditor and their alternate, ;
• the minutes of the General Meeting of members or shareholders who selected the persons concerned or reappointed them ;
• the technical references of the firm or the approved expert appointed to certify and audit the financial statements ;
• the selection method ;
• the certificate of registration of the individual or firm on the list of the national order of chartered or certified accountants (ONECCA) for the current year, and ;
• the terms of reference of the mandate entrusted to them. (To promote the independence of these auditors, their selection is carried out by invitation to tender in accordance with procedures adopted by the governing bodies.)

The approval may be revoked by the Banking Commission.

The summary table below shows the categories of regulated institutions concerned, the number of statutory and alternate auditors required and the duration of their terms of office.