The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operating licenses of 4,173 Bureau De Change operators in Nigeria. This was contained in a press release signed by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications of the apex Bank, Mrs. Sidi Ali Hakama on Friday.
According to the statement, the CBN carried out the revocation of the licences in exercise of the powers conferred on it under the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 No 5 and the Revised Operational Guidelines for Bureaux De Change 2015 (the Guidelines). It added that the list of affected BDC operators is available on the bank’s website www.cbn.gov.ng.
The central bank revealed that the affected institutions failed to observe at least one of the following regulatory provisions:
– Payment of all necessary fees, including license renewal, within the stipulated period in line with the Guidelines.
– Rendition of returns in line with the Guidelines.
– Compliance with guidelines, directive and circulars of the CBN, particularly Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering and Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF) regulations.
The CBN also announced that it is currently revising the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for Bureau de Change operations in Nigeria and indicated that compliance with the new requirements will be mandatory for all stakeholders in the sector when the guidelines become effective.
