Cameroon's Deposit and Consignment Fund (CDEC) has renewed its opposition to a CEMAC regulation that places parts of its activities under the supervision of the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC), arguing that the measure is already the subject of an annulment case before the CEMAC Court of Justice.
The public institution issued the statement in response to a July 15 article published by the state-owned newspaper Cameroon Tribune, which presented the regulation as setting new operating rules for deposit and consignment funds across the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).
According to the newspaper, the regulation classifies some of the institutions' activities as banking operations, bringing them under COBAC's authority. The banking regulator would therefore be responsible for overseeing their governance, management and executive appointments, while also being able to request information and impose sanctions for non-compliance.
The CDEC does not merely dispute the substance of the regulation. It also challenges the way it has been presented.
Regulation Dates Back to 2025
The institution says no meeting of the Ministerial Committee of the Central African Monetary Union (UMAC) took place in Malabo in July 2026 to adopt the regulation, contrary to what the article suggested.
According to CDEC Director General Richard Evina Obam, the regulation in question is Regulation No. 1/25/CEMAC/UMAC/CM/COBAC of July 12, 2025, which sets the operating conditions and supervisory framework for deposit and consignment funds in the CEMAC region.
The clarification is intended to dispel any impression that a new regulation was recently adopted. While the text has been in force for a year, the CDEC argues that both its legality and its application to the institution remain under judicial review.
The disagreement goes beyond the timing of the regulation. The CDEC continues to reject the classification of its core activities—including the management of consignments, regulated deposits and unclaimed assets—as banking operations subject to COBAC supervision.
Annulment Case Still Pending
The CDEC says it has asked the CEMAC Court of Justice in N'Djamena to annul the 2025 regulation. The existence of the legal challenge does not automatically suspend the regulation, nor does it mean it has been invalidated. Until the court issues a final ruling, the regulation remains in force while the CDEC's arguments remain those of a party to the litigation.
At the center of the dispute is the scope of COBAC's authority. The regional regulation considers certain activities carried out by deposit and consignment funds to fall under the banking rules established by the 1992 convention harmonizing banking regulation across Central Africa.
The CDEC takes the opposite view. It argues that the funds it manages are not deposits voluntarily collected from the public, as in a commercial bank, but assets entrusted to it under laws and regulations.
These include court consignments, regulated deposits and unclaimed assets. According to the institution, the legal nature of those funds prevents them from being automatically treated as ordinary banking deposits.
A Dispute Over Institutional Status
The CDEC also argues that it cannot be treated as a conventional credit institution.Created under Cameroonian law in 2008, the institution is responsible for receiving, safeguarding and managing deposits and consignments provided for by law. It also mobilizes long-term resources to help finance the economy and support certain public policies.
Richard Evina Obam maintains that these responsibilities give the institution a distinct legal status. He argues that the CDEC acts as a public accountant managing regulated public and private funds and is therefore excluded from COBAC's supervision under Article 11 of the annex to the 1992 convention on banking harmonization in Central Africa.
The UMAC regulation challenges that interpretation by placing deposit and consignment funds under COBAC's authority whenever they engage in activities classified as banking operations, while granting them certain exemptions from rules that apply to commercial banks.
For example, they would not be required to operate as public limited companies with boards of directors. The CDEC argues, however, that these exemptions do not resolve the central legal question: whether a regional banking regulation can redefine public-service functions assigned by national law to a public institution as banking activities.
A Regional Test Case
The latest statement comes amid growing tensions between the CDEC and the regional banking regulator. In June 2026, the institution declined to participate in a COBAC consultation on draft regulations covering the governance and internal controls of CEMAC deposit and consignment funds.
The dispute is now unfolding on three fronts. The first is judicial, through the pending annulment case before the CEMAC Court of Justice. The second is regulatory, as COBAC prepares implementing measures under the 2025 regulation. The third is institutional, with the CDEC seeking to preserve its status as a public financial institution separate from the traditional banking sector.
The outcome could have implications beyond Cameroon. If the court upholds the regulation, COBAC would strengthen its authority over the activities, governance and management of deposit and consignment funds throughout the region. If the regulation is annulled, CEMAC authorities would need to rethink the legal framework governing those institutions.
Until the court rules, the CDEC says its immediate objective is to make clear that the regulation was adopted in 2025—not 2026—and that its application remains the subject of an unresolved legal dispute that could redefine the balance of powers between member states and the regional banking regulator.
Baudouin Enama