Banking law

Banking law governs credit institutions and the other similar bodies carrying on the business of banking — namely the taking of deposits and the granting of credit or financing to individuals and businesses, together, incidentally, with investment in a range of investment products.

It is the branch of commercial law concerned with the whole body of rules governing banking transactions, as well as with those framing the conduct of the persons who carry them out. It regulates the economic activities that credit institutions pursue on a habitual basis.

The banks of the Moroccan marketplace

We act today for almost every bank in the Moroccan marketplace. That position yields a knowledge of market practice, documentation standards and risk policies that no reading of the texts can supply: we know what a credit committee will accept before we even begin to draft.

Our work covers banking transactions within the meaning of Law No. 103-12 on credit institutions and similar bodies. Credit agreements, current-account credit facilities, syndicated loans, acquisition finance and project finance. Security interests, in rem and personal: mortgages, pledges over the business as a going concern (fonds de commerce) and over securities, charges over plant and equipment, suretyships, first-demand guarantees, comfort letters. Documentary credits, documentary collections, international guarantees and trade finance — including where a letter of credit is frozen under an international sanctions regime.

We also handle participative finance: participative banks and windows, the mechanics of the Mourabaha, the Ijara, the Moucharaka and the Salam, and the rarely straightforward interplay between the compliance opinion of the Higher Council of Ulema, the circulars of Bank Al-Maghrib and the ordinary law of obligations and contracts.

Banking litigation and debt recovery

We act to defend the interests of banking professionals as well as of the customers of banking institutions. We take on any matter concerning the validity and performance of banking transactions, and any litigation seeking to establish the civil, criminal or disciplinary liability of banking institutions and their officers.

We plead before the commercial courts, the commercial courts of appeal and the Court of Cassation, in Arabic, as well as before arbitral tribunals.

Mortgage-secured debt recovery programmes we conduct from the formal demand through to the distribution of the proceeds, by way of extrajudicial notice, attachment of the property and auction sale. On the defence side, we handle lender liability — abusive termination of credit, abusive support, duty to warn, duty of information, breach of the duty of vigilance — and account disputes: closure, interest, the overall effective rate, compounding. When a debtor falls into insolvency proceedings, we file and verify proofs of claim, assert security interests and challenge plans.

The new Code of Civil Procedure, enacted by Law No. 58-25, came into force on 24 August 2026. It changes the conduct of litigation: dematerialised procedural documents, tighter deadlines, a stronger case-management role for the judge, court-ordered mediation in certain disputes. We have overhauled our methods accordingly.

What international institutions have entrusted to us

We have served as contract experts for the World Bank Group and its affiliate the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for the OECD and for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Those engagements covered the analysis of Moroccan banking regulation, competition law applied to the financial sector, the assessment of guarantee schemes and of access to finance, and comparative studies designed to inform the reform of the national framework. They are conducted in French, Arabic and English, and require situating Moroccan law within the frameworks of Basel, the FATF, the OECD and the European Union.

Public banking law

We also act in public banking law — that is, on the incorporation of a finance company or credit institution and the obtaining of its licences from Bank Al-Maghrib, and on supporting the filing of the licence application. This practice has a dedicated page of its own: banking regulation.

We likewise assist regulated companies in achieving certified compliance with national and international standards against the offences of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Legal scholarship

Droit bancaire marocain (Moroccan Banking Law) was published by LexisNexis, in The MENA Collection, in January 2023. The book carries a preface by Mr Nabil Badr, head of banking supervision at Bank Al-Maghrib, and is introduced by Professor Hubert de Vauplane. A second book is in preparation, devoted to FinTech law in Morocco, in a comparative approach with the European, French, North American and Gulf regimes.

Frequently asked questions

What is the scope of the firm's banking law practice?

Banking and credit transactions in their entirety: credit agreements and structured financings, security interests in rem and personal, documentary credits and international trade finance, participative finance, banking litigation, recovery of secured debts, lender liability, insolvency proceedings and enforcement measures.

Does the firm appear before the Court of Cassation?

Yes. We draft and argue appeals to the Court of Cassation in banking, commercial and civil matters, in Arabic, and conduct the defence on the merits as well as at the enforcement stage.

Does the firm work with international financial institutions?

Yes. We have served as contract experts for the World Bank Group and the IFC, for the OECD and for the EBRD, on regulatory analysis, competition law applied to the financial sector and support for normative reform.

In which languages do you work?

French, Arabic — including the Moroccan judicial register — and English for international clients.