Meeting at the Governors' Palace under the chairmanship of Joseph Djogbénou, the members of the 10th legislature took a decisive step in the fight against financial crime. They adopted Law No. 2026-07 , a new text of 29 articles (divided into four chapters) designed to severely punish counterfeiting and attacks on monetary symbols.

This new legislation replaces that of November 2003, which had become obsolete in the face of new technologies used by criminal networks.

Financial and prison penalties have been significantly increased.

The new legal framework leaves no room for leniency. From now on, anyone who knowingly transports, possesses, imports, or circulates counterfeit banknotes is liable to:

1. 5 to 7 years in prison .
2. A minimum fine of 5 million CFA francs .

The case of organized gangs and high technology

1. Organized crime: Sentences skyrocket and can reach the legal maximum for counterfeiting, i.e. 20 years imprisonment .
2. Technological arsenal: The law directly targets the upstream end of the trafficking. The manufacture, import, possession or use of software and equipment intended for the production of counterfeit currency is now punishable by 5 to 7 years imprisonment .

An arsenal of additional deterrent penalties

To permanently paralyze fraudsters, the Beninese justice system now has extra-substantive sanctions at its disposal:

1. For professionals: Prohibition from working in the banking and financial sector for a period of up to 20 years.
2. For foreigners: Prohibition of residence on the territory of Benin, temporarily or permanently.
3. For companies involved: Temporary closure or permanent dissolution of the structure.
4. Public display: In order to make an impact, the courts may order the publication of convictions by posting or in the media.

Beyond currency: Taking advantage of the same plenary session, the National Assembly also authorized the ratification of two major international conventions. The first concerns strengthening banking supervision within the WAEMU, and the second relates to the shared management of transboundary waterways and international lakes.