CBN Revokes Operational Licenses of 4,173 BDCs

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in exercise of the powers conferred on it under the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5, and the Revised Operational Guidelines for Bureaux De Change 2015 (the Guidelines), has revoked the licenses of 4,173 Bureaux De Change Operators.

The list of affected BDC operators is available on the Bank's website (www.cbn.gov.ng).
The affected institutions failed to observe at least one of the following regulatory provisions:

• Payment of all necessary fees, including licence renewal, within the stipulated period in line with the Guidelines.

• Rendition of returns in line with the Guidelines.

• Compliance with guidelines, directives and circulars of the CBN, particularly Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF) regulations.

The CBN is revising the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for Bureau de Change operations in Nigeria. Compliance with the new requirements will be mandatory for all stakeholders in the sector when the revised guidelines become effective.

Members of the public are hereby advised to take note and be guided accordingly.

March, 01, 2024
Sidi Ali, Hakama (Mrs.) Ag. Director, Corporate Communications

emkz:
These are just temporary measures and are bound to fail. The forex market in Nigeria is like a hydra-headed snake. Cut one head; as you face another head, the first head will grow back. Cut the damn neck! In other words, let the CBN address the root of the problem instead of pretending they don't know.

Since last week, dollars injected into the forex market are mopped up.

Who exactly are those mopping up the forex?

What economic activity is tied to the raid of the forex?

Ribadu claims the activities of speculators are responsible for the hike in dollar rates.

My question to Ribadu is: why are the speculators not afraid of the government?

For many years, bank MDs have been accused of buying forex from CBN and the forex goes into the black market through back channels, for example, there are vulturistic abokis sitting in banking halls trying to buy off dollars from customers.

Who regulates those abokis?

If the $10billion the vice president said would come into the system enters, it would be evacuated by the same speculators which would not solve the problem.

My observation is that CBN has lost complete control of the forex market and are being regulated by the BDCs and population instead of CBN being in control. All over the world, forex trading is heavily regulated by governments through central banks.

What I also observed is that the dollars are mopped up by those who don't need them but are keeping them for a profit. Therefore, let CBN take complete control of the forex market through the following measures:

(1) Deregister all unlicensed BDCs. That market is heavily unregulated and until they are faced squarely by the authorities, the practice of the naira dying will not stop.

(2) Stop selling dollars to commercial banks as it is clear that they have failed in meeting their obligations to customers with the dollars. People who approach the banks for PTA/BTA and school fees are directed to the BDCs. Why do BDCs have dollars and banks don't? Even with banks, some people still approach the CBN to transfer their school fees. Infact, it was found that the banks had $5billion in their vaults. How come no one has been punished when these same banks created artificial scarcity to push people to BDCs?

(3) All banks should be compelled to show a statement of how they used the dollars they received from the CBN from the last two years. At least it would give us some ideas of what disappeared through the black market.

(4) CBN needs to carry out a tsunami on the banking industry. Use some bank MDs known for the forex fraud as examples by dismissing them for breaking the law.

(5) Once all these measures are taken, the CBN must protect all forex coming into the country to ensure the problems we currently have are not iterated.

In summary, CBN needs to take drastic measures to regulate the market.

There are other measures that can be taken to get the dollars from those who have stored them. Whether the CBN would have the will is something else. The Nigerian forex market is like those who pirate music.

Kill the black market for forex.

emkz:
I joined many other Nigerians to call on regulations and deregistering many of these BDCs.



Unfortunately, the BDCs are a fraction of the problems. We need to also go after the owners of those BDCs who work in the CBN, ministries, customs and even among the political class.

The cleansing must be holistic.

fuckJones:
Now that the NSA has requested for the list of all the Nigerian users on Binance; heads would roll and cut across! May every saboteur and enemy of Nigeria be pull down on their knees🙏

lexy2014:


which crimes did the BDCs commit that makes them part of the problem?

fuckJones:
Now that the NSA has requested for the list of all the Nigerian users on Binance; heads would roll and cut across! May every saboteur and enemy of Nigeria be pull down on their knees🙏

matify83:
Good development

Validated:
Nice job CBN.
Now increase the capital requirements for the rest to $1.0m. Anyone not able to afford such should merge of be absorbed into the few big ones.

emkz:


It was the parallel market that operated without any regulation.

fuckJones:
Now that the NSA has requested for the list of all the Nigerian users on Binance; heads would roll and cut across! May every saboteur and enemy of Nigeria be pull down on their knees🙏

lexy2014:


who are the enemies of Nigeria?

are Tinubu and the NSA not sabotaging Nigera?

fuckJones:
you can direct this questions to obi

fuckJones:
Now that the NSA has requested for the list of all the Nigerian users on Binance; heads would roll and cut across! May every saboteur and enemy of Nigeria be pull down on their knees🙏