FIC goAML Registration in Rwanda: Step by Step for Reporting Persons (2026)

Short answer: Every reporting person in Rwanda must register with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) "using the system established by the Centre", which in practice is the FIC's goAML portal. A new reporting person registers within 30 days of receiving its certificate of incorporation. The organisation registers first, through "Register" and then "Reporting Entity", which also creates its administrator account, ideally for the head of compliance. The FIC accepts or rejects the request by e-mail, and other users then join with the organisation's Reporting Person ID (REID). For reporting persons the FIC supervises, registering late carries a fine of FRW 8 million to FRW 10 million.

This guide is for compliance officers, owners and operations teams at Rwandan banks, microfinance institutions, insurers, forex bureaus, payment service providers, capital-market firms, casinos, real estate agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, lawyers, notaries, bailiffs, accountants and the other reporting persons in Law N° 001/2025. It follows the FIC's "Reporting Person Online Registration Guide". It is a practical guide, not legal advice: if the FIC tells you something different, follow the FIC.

---

Who must register

Article 9(a) of Law N° 001/2025 of 22 January 2025 on the prevention and punishment of money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction requires every reporting person to "register in accordance with the regulation of the Centre". The FIC's Regulations N° 002/FIC/2026 of 22 June 2026 add that a reporting person "registers using the system established by the Centre" (Article 3).

The Law lists the reporting persons in Article 8:

• financial institutions, which the Law defines by activity, such as taking deposits, money or value transfer, issuing means of payment, long-term insurance, and money and currency changing;
• advocates, notaries, professional bailiffs and other independent legal professionals, when they act for a client outside legal proceedings in activities such as buying and selling real estate, managing client money or setting up companies;
• auditors, accountants and tax advisers;
• real estate agents;
• dealers in precious metals and precious stones;
• people and companies in the business of distributing money;
• casinos and national lottery gaming halls;
• trust and company service providers;
• virtual asset service providers.

An Order of the Minister in charge of finance may add others. When we checked on 1 October 2026, the FIC's compliance page listed about 3,500 reporting persons in an undated table: 408 financial institutions and 3,128 designated non-financial businesses and professions, including 1,252 lawyers, 679 notaries and 390 bailiffs. The FIC is bringing the professions onto goAML: from 23 to 27 February 2026 it trained 189 notaries, court bailiffs and lawyers in Kigali on their duties and on reporting through the system.

Each category has a supervisory authority, which the FIC publishes:

---

The deadlines

Reporting persons that already existed. The 2023 Regulations gave existing reporting persons three months to register. The 2026 Regulations set a deadline only for new ones. If your business is a reporting person and has never registered, register now rather than wait for a new deadline.

The compliance officer. The Law requires "a compliance officer at the management level" (Article 29). The 2026 Regulations add that the officer has "sufficient authority, seniority, and resources to perform the duties effectively and independently" and "direct and unfettered access to the Board of Directors or a relevant committee thereof" (Article 6).

---

Before you start

---

Step by step: registering the organisation

Reports are filed on the FIC's goAML production environment at goweb.fic.gov.rw. The FIC also runs a test environment.

1. Open the registration form. Choose "Register" and then "Reporting Entity".
2. Organization tab. Enter the details of the organisation itself.
3. Administrator tab. Enter the person who will be the Reporting Person Administrator. In the FIC's words, this initial user "will automatically become the Reporting Person Administrator (RP Admin) for the registered Entity".
4. Documents. Attach the licence, the certificate of registration and the compliance officer's appointment letter.
5. Submit. Enter the CAPTCHA code and press "Submit New Organization".
6. Keep the registration number. The portal shows a registration number. Keep it: the FIC's guide says it "can be used to reference the change request if they need to contact the FIC".

The FIC's decision. The FIC accepts or rejects the request, and an e-mail goes to the addresses on the form either way. The e-mail confirming registration contains the organisation's Reporting Person ID (REID). The FIC does not publish a turnaround time.

---

Adding other users

Other staff register as users of the existing organisation. The FIC's guide says:

• the REID, "sometimes labelled as Organization ID", is mandatory;
• "The attachment required here is only the appointment letter of the person registering".

Groups: delegation. goAML can associate two reporting entities "so that one can report on behalf of the other". The FIC calls this delegation. It suits a group where "a business may have several subsidiaries for which it needs a separate reporting entity (and REID) but only one reporting officer".

---

Production or test?

XML reporting. Banks that generate CTRs and WTRs from their own systems build XML files to the FIC's goAML schema. The FIC publishes a schema description, a registration guide and an STR and SAR reporting guide, and links from the portal to a folder holding the schema, an XML validator, business rules and sample reports. Its schema description lists 16 report codes, among them STR, SAR, CTR, WTR and TF, for terrorist activity or financing. The FIC-hosted description refers to schema 5.0.1, while a later file in the documentation folder is named for 5.0.2, so confirm the current version with the FIC before you build.

For help, the FIC's goAML Management Team is at gosupport@fic.gov.rw or +250791676748.

---

What you file once registered

• Suspicious transaction and activity reports, whatever the amount, "within 24 hours from its occurrence" (Regulations N° 002/FIC/2026, Article 39). See our guide to STRs in Rwanda.
• Cash transaction, wire transfer and value transfer reports above the FIC's thresholds, within two working days of the transaction (Articles 41 and 42). The FIC publishes templates for banks, forex bureaus, remittance providers, the gambling sector, real estate, dealers in precious minerals and stones, other DNFBPs and e-money issuers. See our Rwanda FIC goAML reporting guide for the thresholds.

---

Penalties

The FIC's Regulations N° 001/FIC/2026 determining faults and sanctions apply to "reporting persons under the supervision of the Centre":

The 2022 regulations they replaced capped the late-registration fine at FRW 10 million with no minimum.

Failing to register is also a criminal offence: Article 66 of Law N° 001/2025 covers the duties in Article 9, registration included, with 1 to 3 years' imprisonment or a fine of FRW 1 million to FRW 5 million for an individual, and a fine of FRW 5 million to FRW 20 million for a legal person.

Banks, microfinance institutions, insurers, payment service providers and other institutions licensed by the BNR, and capital-market firms licensed by the CMA, also answer to their regulator's own AML/CFT sanctions regulations. The BNR's run from a written warning to revocation of the licence.

---

Registration checklist

1. Confirm that your business is a reporting person under Article 8 of Law N° 001/2025, and which supervisory authority covers it.
2. Appoint a compliance officer at managerial level with direct access to the Board, and tell the FIC within three working days.
3. Scan the licence, the certificate of registration and the compliance officer's appointment letter, and ask the FIC whether it also wants the paper registration form.
4. Register the organisation on goweb.fic.gov.rw through "Register" and "Reporting Entity", with your head of compliance as administrator, and keep the registration number.
5. Watch for the FIC's e-mail, and file the REID it contains.
6. Register other users with the REID and their appointment letters, and set up delegation if one officer reports for several group entities.
7. If you will file CTRs and WTRs as XML, build to the FIC's schema, test in the test environment, and wait for authorisation before filing in production.
8. Diarise the seven-working-day deadline for changed particulars and the 24-hour deadline for changes concerning the compliance officer.

---

Frequently asked questions

How do I register with the FIC in Rwanda?

On the FIC's goAML portal. Choose "Register" and then "Reporting Entity", complete the Organization and Administrator tabs, attach your documents, enter the CAPTCHA code and submit. The portal shows a registration number, and the FIC tells you by e-mail whether it has accepted the request.

When must a new reporting person register?

Within 30 days after getting its certificate of incorporation (Article 4 of Regulations N° 002/FIC/2026).

What documents are needed for FIC goAML registration in Rwanda?

The licence from your regulator, the certificate of domestic company registration and the compliance officer's appointment letter. The FIC's paper registration form also lists the owners' identity documents, a Rwanda Revenue Authority tax clearance certificate, recent financial statements or annual returns, and the organisation structure.

What is the REID?

The Reporting Person ID, sometimes labelled Organization ID. It comes in the e-mail confirming that your organisation is registered, and other staff need it to register as users.

What is the penalty for not registering with the FIC?

For reporting persons under the FIC's supervision, a fine of FRW 8 million to FRW 10 million under the FIC's Regulations N° 001/FIC/2026. Failing to register is also an offence under Article 66 of Law N° 001/2025, with a fine of FRW 5 million to FRW 20 million for a legal person. Late notice of changed particulars costs FRW 500,000 a day for up to 30 days, followed by possible suspension.

---

goAML reporting for Rwandan reporting persons with Creodata

Creodata's goAML Reporting Platform generates schema-valid goAML XML from core-banking data, validates every report against the schema and business rules before submission, and keeps an immutable record of every report, amendment and filing. Registration on the FIC's portal remains your institution's own step: the platform prepares and validates what you file there. See goAML reporting software for Rwanda, and AML compliance software in Rwanda for the monitoring and case management behind each report.

See it on your own report types — request a demo.