Lesotho

Made under sections 18B(1)(c) and 18D of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act. They let the Central Bank sanction supervised accountable institutions after a show-cause notice, including removal of board members, product prohibitions, bans on managers and remedial directions; financial penalties are payable within 30 days.

Made under the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act, 2008. Sets suspicious transaction reporting to the FIU (reg. 19), record keeping (reg. 11) and designation of a senior compliance officer (reg. 13), and fixes cash thresholds for casinos, dealers in precious metals and stones and other designated businesses (regs 22-23). Commencement is on Gazette publication (reg. 1).

Provides for the regulation, registration, supervision and dissolution of pension funds, with the Central Bank of Lesotho as Regulator (ss. 2, 4). Pension fund business needs registration (s. 8), audited accounts are due within four months of year end (s. 23) and actuarial reports within six months (s. 24). Section 71 covers administrative fines and criminal penalties.

Made under ss. 15, 16 and 35 of the Payment Systems Act. A company may issue electronic payment instruments only with a Central Bank licence or as a financial institution (reg. 5), with minimum core capital of M500,000 (Schedule 2). Issuers must hold e-money funds in a trust account at a Lesotho-licensed bank (reg. 35(1), Schedule 4), give prior notice to the Central Bank of outsourcing (reg. 18(2)), and apply tiered KYC with transaction limits (Schedule 5). Commencement is on Gazette publication (reg. 1; Gazette of 31 March 2017).

Amends the 2008 Act. It makes the FIU a body corporate with its own Director, replaces the Authority with 'competent authorities' (the DCEO, the Lesotho Mounted Police Service and the Lesotho Revenue Authority), expands customer due diligence to beneficial owners and politically exposed persons, and lets the FIU and sector supervisors inspect, issue directives and impose administrative sanctions (s. 18D: up to M100,000 for a natural person, M1,000,000 for a juristic person). Money laundering carries up to 25 years' imprisonment or a fine of M25,000,000 (M100,000,000 for legal persons).

Sets AML/CFT requirements for banks, including designation of compliance or money laundering officers, ongoing staff training, a customer acceptance and due diligence programme, ten-year record retention and reporting of suspicious transactions to the FIU. The CBL legislation page lists 2019 amendment regulations.

Made under ss. 13 and 71(1) of the Financial Institutions Act. Anyone carrying on money transfer business, other than a bank, must apply to the Commissioner for a Type IV licence (regs 3-4), valid for one year (reg. 10). Licensees must run risk-based AML/CFT procedures including suspicious transaction reporting to the FIU (reg. 22) and submit the returns in Schedule V (reg. 17). The Commissioner may impose penalties of up to M100,000 for a contravention (reg. 23).

Consolidates the administration, supervision and regulation of insurance business, with the Central Bank of Lesotho as Commissioner (s. 2). It covers registration and licensing of insurers and intermediaries, capital and solvency requirements (ss. 22-26), and annual statements of assets and liabilities (ss. 29, 34).

Requires a Central Bank licence to operate a payment system (s. 10), with one-year renewable licences (s. 12) and licence suspension or withdrawal (s. 13). The Central Bank oversees systems through information requests, inspections and directives (ss. 15-17) and may impose administrative penalties of up to M50,000 (s. 18). Issuing a payment card without a licence is an offence (s. 34(2)). The text contains no customer-fund safeguarding or regulatory sandbox provision. Commencement is on publication in the Gazette (s. 1; Gazette of 12 September 2014).

Sets the grounds for lawful processing of personal information (s. 15), data subject rights of access and correction (ss. 26-27), security safeguards (s. 20), breach notification (s. 23) and offences (s. 55), and establishes the Data Protection Commission (s. 6). Gazetted 22 February 2012; section 1 cites it as the 2011 Act.

Repeals the Financial Institutions Act 1991 and provides for authorising, supervising and regulating banking and non-banking financial institutions, their agents and ancillary service providers. The Central Bank is the Commissioner (s. 2). It covers licensing (ss. 5-16), revocation (s. 16), administrative penalties (s. 32), and fit-and-proper rules for directors and officers (ss. 43-47). The CBL legislation page also lists a Financial Institutions (Amendment) Act, 2023.

Establishes the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (s. 3) and creates corruption offences in Part IV (ss. 20-33), with fines and imprisonment of 5 to 10 years under s. 34. Section 25 applies to agents, which s. 2 defines to include anyone employed by or acting for another, so it can reach private-sector employees. Section 50 protects the identity of informers in court proceedings; no separate whistleblower statute was found. The DCEO lists amending Acts of 2006 (Act 8 of 2006) and 2020 (Act 15 of 2020) and Regulations of 2021. The Act contains no compliance-programme duty for private bodies.