CEMAC Banking Governance Maturity · COBAC Governance Regulation
Your banking governance, measured against the COBAC framework and turned into a costed action plan.
10 themes, a 5-level scale. And the action that moves each level to the next.
The framework’s 10 themes, already written from L1 to L5. One company, one business unit, or 300 at once.
CEMAC Banking Governance Maturity · COBAC Governance Regulation
10 themes, 5-level scale.
Nordhavn Industries
53 / 100
They measure their maturity with Datamensio
An example
This could be your situation.
Take one company as an example: three sites, three spreadsheets, no shared answer.
Nobody can consolidate.
Nordhavn Industries, 2,400 people in Hamburg, Lyon and Porto. A client asks where the group stands. Each site answers in its own spreadsheet, with its own scales.
Three weeks, a single base.
One COBAC Regulation R-2016/04 on corporate governance of CEMAC credit institutions assessment launched across all three sites at once, from the managers’ interview notes. The framework was already written, its 10 themes and levels L1 to L5 too.
Two costs avoided before being committed.
A score of 53 out of 100, with the gap concentrated on three themes. The AI companion spotted that two actions duplicated those of another audit. The committee report took one sentence to request.
What it saved them
- 3sites measured on the same base, instead of three questionnaires to reconcile
- 2duplicate actions caught before the spend
- 1committee report, with no manual rework
These figures are an example. They could be yours.
The standard imposes processes. Datamensio says where you stand.
01
The framework is already written
Themes, questions and levels L1 to L5, all written. You do not start from an empty spreadsheet.
02
The score lands the same day
Online, by self-assessment link or in interview. Theme by theme, comparable over time.
03
The gap becomes a costed plan
Every step up carries its action. The AI prioritises on expected effect, not on the order of the standard.
04
Progress can be demonstrated
Campaign after campaign, against your target and against your own past. That is what your board asks for.
The maturity scale
One level, the next, and the action that links the two.
It is this mechanism (a level, the next level up, and the action that links the two) that turns a finding into a trajectory.
Does the audit committee have the resources and information it needs to carry out its mission autonomously?
- N1
No audit committee established, or a committee appointed without a charter, calendar or work of its own.
- N2
The committee exists and meets, but papers arrive late and discussions rely on documents supplied by executive management.
- N3
A charter sets out the committee’s remit, meetings follow a fixed calendar, papers are circulated within a set deadline and minutes are approved and sent to the board.
- N4
The committee directly interviews the heads of internal audit, compliance and the statutory auditors, without executive management present, and tracks its recommendations through to closure.
- N5
The committee periodically assesses its own operation, adjusts its work programme according to the risk map and documents the revisions made to its charter.
Action to move from L2 to L3
Adopt an audit committee charter at the next board meeting, include a minimum deadline for circulating papers and an annual meeting calendar, then attach approval of the minutes to the agenda of the following board meeting.
« With Datamensio, we meet our objectives far more efficiently. The ERDF inspection services and our supervising ministry particularly appreciated an approach that gives them reliable data. »
Director, CCI 94CCI Île-de-France
« We believe this is the most suitable solution to scale our transformation project and measure impact according to our needs. »
Maja SucekChief Operating Officer, Interreg Danube
Rarely on its own
Frameworks combine. Put several together to cover your business, or have the AI write yours.
Take your first measurementon COBAC.
What this framework covers
The COBAC regulation on corporate governance applies to credit institutions and financial holding companies licensed in the six CEMAC states. It governs the composition of the board of directors and the presence of independent directors, the separation of the chair and chief executive roles, the establishment of specialised committees (audit, risk, remuneration, nominations), the status of the permanent control, compliance and internal audit functions, and the fitness and propriety rules for executives. It also imposes a governed remuneration policy and periodic reporting to the supervisor.
In practice, the difficulty is not knowing the text, it is demonstrating that the framework works. Does the audit committee meet to a fixed calendar, with an agenda, preparatory work and a usable minute, or does it simply endorse documents received the day before? Are directors labelled independent actually independent under the criteria set out in the regulation, or only by custom? Can the head of compliance escalate directly to the board without going through executive management? These questions are not settled by an internal memo.
One point of context is worth noting. COBAC on-site inspections increasingly focus on the effectiveness of governance rather than its mere formalisation: the quality of board debate, the traceability of decisions, the ability of control functions to escalate disagreement. A confusion recurs often: governance is not internal control. The internal control regulation organises the arrangements that manage operations, the governance regulation organises those that direct and oversee them. The two complement each other, they do not substitute for one another.
A compliance audit concludes with a binary finding: the requirement is met or it is not. A maturity assessment answers a different question: what level of control does each practice sit at, and what concrete action moves it to the next level. On a subject like governance, where many gaps stem from custom rather than from the text, this graduated reading is the only one that produces a trajectory. It also allows entities of a group present in several states of the zone to be compared.
In Datamensio, the framework is ready to use and remains editable. The AI adjusts themes, rephrases questions and refines levels according to the CMMI method, or builds a version from your own documents: articles of association, board rules of procedure, committee charters, internal control reports.
Reference standard: COBAC Regulation R-2016/04 on corporate governance of CEMAC credit institutions
The themes assessed
Board composition and organisation
Board size and diversity, independent directors and the criteria used, separation of chair and chief executive roles, term length and renewal, rules of procedure.
Operation of governing bodies
Meeting calendar and frequency, timeliness of paper distribution, attendance, quality of minutes, follow up of decisions from one meeting to the next.
Specialised committees
Audit committee, risk committee, nominations and remuneration committees: charters, composition, chairing, coordination with the board and with control functions.
Fitness and propriety of executives
Selection and approval process, verification of propriety conditions, required experience and competence, ongoing training for directors, succession plans.
Control functions and independence
Reporting line of permanent control, compliance and internal audit, direct access to the board, resources allocated, conditions for appointing and removing heads of function.
Risk governance
Risk appetite formalised and approved by the board, limits framework, reporting to directors on exposures, coordination with the ICAAP and the recovery plan.
Remuneration policy
Governance of remuneration for executives and risk takers, variable pay and award criteria, independence of control function remuneration, periodic review.
Prevention of conflicts of interest
Declarations of interest, related party and reference shareholder transactions, recusal procedure, register of regulated agreements.
Transparency and reporting to the supervisor
Content of the annual governance report, disclosures, filings with COBAC, notification of changes affecting executives and governing bodies.
Assessment and improvement of the framework
Periodic self assessment of the board and committees, use of an external assessment, follow up on recommendations, comparison across successive cycles.
A short version of the framework is available for the online self-assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Does the assessment replace a COBAC on-site inspection?
No. Datamensio measures the maturity of your practices and prepares the discussion with the supervisor, it does not issue any certification. The assessment identifies gaps and the trajectory to close them before the inspection finds them.
What is the difference between this assessment and a compliance audit against the regulation?
The audit checks whether a requirement is met and concludes with a gap or a pass. The assessment places each practice on a five level scale and indicates the action that moves it to the next level. The two complement each other: the assessment prepares, the audit validates.
How long does the assessment take?
The short version can be completed in a single working session. The full version, run collaboratively with the company secretariat, compliance and internal audit, generally takes one to two weeks, most of the time being spent gathering board papers.
Can the framework be adapted to our institution?
Yes. You can edit the questions, levels and themes, or add your own. The AI can build a version from your articles of association, committee charters and rules of procedure. Ownership of the framework stays with you.
Can several CEMAC zone subsidiaries be compared?
Yes. Each business unit completes the same framework, and scores can be compared by theme and over time. A cross group roadmap consolidates subsidiary action plans and avoids addressing the same gap twice at group level.
How does this assessment fit with internal control and the ICAAP?
Governance directs the arrangements that internal control operates and that the ICAAP feeds with risk information. The corresponding frameworks are available in the catalogue and a cross framework roadmap allows them to be linked without duplicating actions.
Do respondents need legal expertise?
The questions cover observable practices: composition of governing bodies, deadlines, traceability, escalation channels. A company secretary or a head of compliance can answer them. Collaborative mode allows technical questions to be assigned to the right contributor.
Where is the data hosted?
In France, with OVH, backed up with Scaleway. No transfer outside the European Union. The AI models used can be selected, including from European providers.