In a move aimed at bringing sanity to Nigeria’s troubled foreign exchange system, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday revoked the license of 4,173 bureaux de change (BDC) operators for various infractions committed in their course of operations.
CBN’s spokesperson Hakama Sidi Ali announced this in a statement.
Sidi Ali said the affected institutions listed on the CBN website failed to comply with regulations, including the “payment of all necessary fees, including license renewal, within the stipulated period in line with the Guidelines.”
Other infractions committed by the BDCs include non-rendition of “returns in line with the Guidelines”.
They were also accused of not complying 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.”
Sidi Ali said the CBN is revising the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for BDC operations in Nigeria.
“Compliance with the new requirements will be mandatory for all stakeholders in the sector when the revised guidelines become effective,” Hakama said.
