The operations subject to prior authorization are those provided for in Articles 39 and 40 of the Law on banking regulations as well as Articles 5 and 7 of Instruction No. 002-03-2018 of March 21, 2018 relating to the special provisions applicable to credit institutions carrying out an Islamic finance activity. These are :

• the acquisition or transfer of a shareholding that would have the effect of increasing the shareholding of the same person, directly or through an intermediary, or of the same group of persons acting in concert, first beyond the blocking minority, then beyond the majority of voting rights in the credit institution, or of lowering this shareholding below these thresholds ;
• the modification of the legal form, the corporate name or the trade name ;
• the transfer of the registered office to another WAEMU member state ;
• the merger by absorption or creation of a new company, or the demerger ;
• the early dissolution ;
• the transfer of assets of more than 20% ;
• the transfer to management or the cessation of activities ;
• the expansion of the activities of financial institutions of a banking nature ;
• the opening of an Islamic branch.

Prior authorizations relating to the above-mentioned operations are granted by the Minister of Finance, after obtaining the approval of the WAMU Banking Commission. The related applications are addressed to the Minister of Finance of the applicant's country of establishment and filed with the Central Bank, which examines them. Instructions from the Central Bank specify the list of documents and information constituting the file for each category of transaction.