(Business in Cameroon) - Agnès Ndoumbé Mandeng, the current CEO of the Cameroonian Bank for SMEs (BC-PME) is condemned to stay out of the banking and microfinance sector for 10 years. Her license to practice has been suspended by a decision taken at the end of the disciplinary session of the Banking Commission of Central Africa (Cobac) on July 21.

"Starting from the notification of this decision, it is prohibited for Mrs. Mandeng, born Ndoumbe Agnès, to control operations or hold positions within the management or board of directors of a credit institution or microfinance institution across the territory of the CEMAC member states, for 10 years," Abbas Mahamat Tolli, the president of this regulatory body for the banking sector in the CEMAC zone, reported.

According to the banking sector regulator, Agnès Ndoumbé Mandeng is accused of "non-compliance with the provisions of Article 26 of the regulation on corporate governance in credit institutions; non-compliance with the provisions of Articles 15 and 22 of the regulation amending and supplementing certain conditions related to the exercise of banking profession in CEMAC; non-compliance with the provisions of Articles 15, 45, 68, 71, and 91 of the regulation on internal control of credit institutions and financial holding companies."

The BC-PME CEO is also accused of "non-compliance with the provisions of Article 13 of the Cobac regulation regarding the classification, accounting, and provisioning of credit institution's claims, and Article 3 of the Cobac decision on measures to adapt to the prudential regulation applicable to institutions subject to Cobac; and non-compliance with the provisions of Article 58 of the regulation for the prevention and repression of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as Articles 11 and 18 of the regulation on the due diligence of credit institutions in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism in Central Africa." According to legal experts, following this heavy sanction, the CEO of BC-PME can appeal to the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of CEMAC to seek a reduction in the Cobac sanction, or simply have it annulled if she can demonstrate its baselessness.