The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shed lights on why it revoked the licences of 4,173 Bureaux De Change operators.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shed lights on why it revoked the licences of 4,173 Bureaux De Change operators.
According to the CBN the BDC operators affected failed to observe regulatory provisions.
This was made known in a statement on Thursday by the apex bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Sidi Ali Hakama.
The Bank noted that it revoked their operating licences over their failure to pay all necessary fees, including license renewal, within the stipulated period in line with guidelines, rendition of returns in line with the Guidelines, and 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.
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CBN said the action is exercising 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).
According to the apex bank, the list of affected BDC operators is available on its website.
The CBN further said it is revising the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for Bureau de Change operations in Nigeria, adding that compliance with the new requirements will be mandatory for all stakeholders in the sector.
The statement read:
“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:
”a. Payment of all necessary fees, including licence renewal, within the stipulated period in line with the Guidelines. 1. Rendition of returns in line with the Guidelines. 2. 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.”
CBN on Tuesday, allocated $20,000 each to 785 Bureau de Change (BDC) operators across the country amounting to a total of $15.7 million, to ease foreign exchange (forex) scarcity.
