Angola has revised the rules for Banking Financial Institutions, when opening, maintaining, operating and closing bank accounts, according to official legal database Legis-PALOP+TL.
As of January 31, 2023, the following new rules for opening accounts apply:
⦁ Natural or legal persons, whether residents or non-residents, may hold accounts in national and/or foreign currency at Banking Financial Institutions based in Angola;
⦁ Minors can hold deposit accounts, opened by their legal representatives.
⦁ Banking Financial Institutions must ensure that accounts held by non-residents, regardless of their currency of denomination, are duly identified as such.
⦁ Opening a bank account can be done with or without the physical presence of the customer.
⦁ Account opening, without the physical presence of the customer, can be carried out exclusively using remote means of communication.
⦁ The opening of an account can also be done through third parties to whom this competence has been legally or contractually attributed, and such initial delivery of funds, originating from an account held by a person other than the customer, must only be accepted upon presentation of a credible justification.
⦁ Banking Financial Institutions are subject to several new due diligence duties, including the collection and information of customers, the use of biometric means and the requirement for a bank transfer that allows the identification of the payer.
Banking Financial Institutions are also subject to new legal obligations regarding:
⦁ Provision of information;
⦁ Issue of statements;
⦁ Dormant accounts;
⦁ Handling of accounts, in particular, for minors, accounts in foreign currency, accounts for deceased persons, accounts of holders in bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings;
⦁ Closure of accounts and accounts without activity to which applies the Prescription Regime for Certain Assets Abandoned by Their Owners in Favor of the State.
