CBN To Release Fresh List Of Approved Bureau De Change Operators As ABCON Directs Compliance With New Forex Guideline

The Central Bank of Nigeria is compiling a fresh list of approved Bureau de Change Operators and the list will be based on compliance with the new CBN guideline for BDCs, THE WHISTLER can authoritatively report.

The operation licenses of non-compliant BDCs will be revoked, the National President of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, said in an exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER.

The move is in line with the CBN’s quest to sanitize the parallel market which is now officially recognized as the BDC segment of the FX market.

In a circular dated August 17, 2023, the CBN released a new operational mechanism for BDCs.

The guideline demands that the spread on buying and selling of forex by BDCs should be within an allowable limit of – 2.5 percent to +2.5 percent of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange market window weighted average rate of the previous day.

They were also mandated to render statutory periodic reports which are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly on the Financial Institution Forex Rendition System (FIFX) which has been upgraded to meet individual Operator’s requirements.

Currently, the CBN has 5,691 BDCs that are approved.

“The circular means streamlining the BDC operations. What I will advise my members is for now, yes, there are technical challenges that we are engaging with the CBN, and honestly, they are listening. Our members should comply with the new policy so that by the time the list (of BDCs) will come out, their names will be there. The new list of BDCs will be out, and they must be compliant with the new rules,” Gwadabe said.

The naira had traded as high as N955 per dollar before it gained to trade around N830 by the end of Friday after the CBN acting governor, Folashodun Shonubi, threatened to deal with speculators.

“They are coming up with their list, no doubt about it. We have gone back and forth with them (CBN).”