Ethiopia - Apply for Money Remittance License

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Procedure

An applicant for a money remittance licence shall be locally incorporated in Ethiopia as a company limited by shares.

• A person who desires to obtain a money remittance licence shall submit an application to the National Bank Ethiopia as set out in Form A in schedule 5 to the Bank Regulations, together with an Information sheet as set out in Form B in schedule 5 to the Bank Regulations, specifying the class of licence being applied for and shall furnish the National Bank of Ethiopia with any other information that the National Bank of Ethiopia may require.

On the Application attach the following documents

• non-refundable application fee of 10,000 Birr (bankers cheque payable to the National Bank of Ethiopia);
• a certified copy of a statement of affairs of the applicant;
• a certified copy of the applicants memorandum and articles of association;
• a certified copy of the applicants certificate of incorporation;
• a feasibility study including financial projections for three years (balance sheet, profit and loss account and cash flow statements), organizational structure, physical location and postal address;
• bank statements of the bureaus shareholders and directors for a period of six months prior to the date of application;
• duly completed fit and proper forms for the shareholders, directors and principal officers of the Remittance Bureau;
• credit reports from a credit reference bureau for the shareholders, directors and the principal officers of the Remittance bureau;
• a declaration by the applicant that none of its directors and/or shareholders has ever been declared bankrupt, participated in the management of a collapsed institution, convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction in Ethiopia or elsewhere of a criminal offence involving fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, or any other act of dishonesty;
• a declaration by the applicant that none of its directors and/or shareholders holds a similar position or role in any other Remittance bureau;
• an undertaking by the applicant to comply with the provisions of the National Bank of Ethiopia Act, the Regulations, the Remittance Bureau Guidelines and any instructions/ directions issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia regarding the establishment and operations of Remittance bureaus at all times; and
• any other information as may be required by the National Bank of Ethiopia.

A licence issued under the Act and these Regulations may be

• Class AInternational Money Transfer Agency Licence;
• Class BForex Bureau and Money Remittance Licence;
• Class CDirect Entrants Licence; or
• Class DSub - Agency Licence.

• In considering an application under subsection (2), the national Bank of Ethiopia may require to be satisfied as to the following licensing criteria

Note

Remittance providers now must also investigate complaints. If you think a mistake was made and promptly contact the company, it generally has 90 days to investigate the matter and must notify you of the investigations results. For certain types of errors, such as if the money never arrives, you may be able to get a refund or have the transfer sent again.

Other protections may be available to you, depending on how you send the money and the laws in your Country.

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Required Documents

• Proper book keeping Register
• Academic Qualification documents
• designation and specimen signature of the staff members
• Address of applicant
• evidence of provisional tax payment
• A tax clearance certificate.

Office Locations & Contacts

National Bank of Ethiopia

Sudan Avenue

P.O.Box:5550

Tel:+251-11 551 7430

Fax:+251-11 551 4588

E-Mail: [email protected]

Website:http://www.nbe.gov.et/

You can Visit the following link for Various Offices in National Bank Of Ethiopia

,http://www.nbe.gov.et/contactus/index.html

Eligibility

The following institutions/organizations are legally eligible institutions to provide low cost international remittance service in Ethiopia.

a) International money transfers operators in association with banks, which are licensed entities to provide money-transferring services internationally. These are Western Union, Money Gram, Maniflo, and Adam Funds etc;

b) Commercial banks, which are, licensed business organizations to provide financial intermediation;

c) Non-Financial organizations, which are business organizations that are allowed to engage in remittance services through their branches overseas.

These are:

• Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) and
• Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL).

A Money Remittance may be established by any eligible corporate body or corporation duly licensed by the National bank of Ethiopia to transfer money from a Local or foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country.This can be electronic money transfers,Mobile money, western union money transfer or any other means acceptable by the National bank of Ethiopia.

• A Money Remittance applicant must be an Ethiopian Nationality.
• All Individual or company registered for Business in Ethiopia with the registrar of Companies.ie banks and credit unions and possibly other types of financial services companies qualify as remittance transfer providers.

Fees

Explain the fees structure which is required for obtaining the certificate/document.

Validity

Valid for 2 years

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

Processing take 60 days

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

They must generally provide consumers certain information before they make remittance transfers.

This includes information about

• The exchange rate.
• Fees and taxes they collect from you.
• Fees charged by the companys agents abroad and certain other institutions involved in the transfer process.
• The amount of money expected to be delivered, not including foreign taxes or certain fees charged to the recipient.
• If appropriate, a statement that additional foreign taxes and fees may be deducted from the remittance transfer.

• No person shall carry out a Money Remittance business unless he/she is in possession of a Money Remittance License.
• A person who fails to contravenes or fail to comply with section 1 shall be guilt of any offence and shall be dealt with in accordance with law.
• You also must receive information about when the money will be available, instructions on your right to cancel transfers, what to do in case of an error, and how to submit a complaint.

Required Information

• Full Name of Applicant
• Address of Applicant
• Location of Foreign Exchange Bureau
• License Number
• A tax clearance certificate.
• Evidence of provisional tax payment
• Full names, addresses and designations of the employees of the bureau.
• Proof of legal identification. Your national driver's license or international passport are the best for this.
• Proof of legal address. House rent receipts, and utility bills stating your house address are acceptable

Need for the Document

A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country.

Money transfer in this case means international Remittance Transfer by Nationals means monetary transfers that overseas Ethiopians and foreign nationals of Ethiopian origin make money transfers to their home country through Remittance Service Providers (RSPs)or sending money from

Ethiopia to other countries. Remittance Service Providers are licensed transfer houses that provide remittance service to customers either directly by banks via SWIFT or through money transferring agents working in association with bank.

Users of this system can obtain information from Access points such as

i. Bank branches

ii. Post offices

iii. NBEs and commercial banks' and Ministry of Foreign Affairs websites

vi. Brochures

V. Telephone etc

To carry out this kind of "Business Money transfer Business"in Ethiopia you will need a Money transfer Remittance License.

• Transacting money remittance business without a licence is prohibited in Ethiopia.

• A person shall not carry on or advertise that it carries on money remittance business without a valid money remittance licence issued under the Bank Regulations of Ethiopia.

• A person who satisfies the requirements of regulation 15 and wishes to carry on money remittance business may apply to National Bank of Ethiopia for a licence to carry on that business.

Information which might help

The following are the major transfer types contained in the international remittance transfer

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• Personal transfers
• Money to be used for investment
• International cash donations
• Deposit and service payments
• Temporary and permanent migrants transfer.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

http://www.nbe.gov.et/remittanceservice/index.html

Others

More information which might help people.