The countdown is over. With the imminent entry into force of the CRD6 directive on January 10, 2026, Moroccan banks in Europe are facing a regulatory tightening that could weaken the money transfers of Moroccans living abroad to the Kingdom.
The Office of Exchange has published its monthly indicators of foreign trade for the first eleven months of the year 2025. The data confirm the steady increase in remittances from Moroccans living abroad and the good performance of the tourism sector, in a context marked by the widening of the trade deficit.
It is a Sword of Damocles weighing on 130 billion dirhams. The European directive threatening to asphyxiate Moroccan bank subsidiaries in the Old Continent is entering a critical phase. Faced with the urgency, Abdellatif Jouahri is playing the card of pragmatism: a "positive" agreement is concluded with France, but it remains suspended on the decisive green light from the European Commission to become the shield of the entire diaspora.
This is a financial windfall that continues to break records. The latest Eurostat data confirms the vital role of the Moroccan diaspora in the Kingdom’s economy. In 2024, money transfers from Europe reached new heights, driven by an undisputed leading duo: France and Spain, which alone injected nearly 5 billion euros into Morocco.
Morocco is taking the lead in a diplomatic revolt at the WTO to stop the financial hemorrhage of migrants. With fees reaching 8.37% in sub-Saharan Africa, the Kingdom wants to impose a drastic reduction in commissions that deprive families of vital billions of dollars.
The latest economic indicators for Morocco present a contrasted picture. While transfers from Moroccans living abroad (MRE) continue to strengthen, the country’s trade deficit has considerably worsened over the first nine months of 2025.
The arrival in Morocco of Revolut, the 100% digital British neobank, could lower the costs of financial services and disrupt the traditional banking sector in the kingdom.
In a preparatory document for its twelfth congress, the Party of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) denounces a "dangerous setback" in the care of Moroccans residing abroad (MREs), estimated at five million, despite the calls of King Mohammed VI for their integration into the development policies of the kingdom.
Abdellatif Jouahri, the Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, provided new details on the European directive that threatens the activity of Moroccan banks in Europe and the transfers of Moroccans residing abroad (MREs), stressing the need to remove any legal ambiguity in the agreement reached with France and that negotiations continue with other European countries.
The implementation of the European Directive 2024-1619 (CRD6), which imposes a harmonized and unified framework on subsidiaries of third-country banks in the European Union (EU), will deal a severe blow to Moroccan banks present in Europe and will reduce the flow of transfers from Moroccans residing abroad (MREs) to Morocco.
The European directive announced for 2026 and aimed at unifying governance and compliance standards with foreign banks, including Moroccan banks with subsidiaries in the European Union, will significantly affect remittances from Moroccans in Europe to Morocco.
While they carry economic weight through money transfers and investments in Morocco, Moroccans residing abroad (MRE) do not yet carry political weight. And for good reason...