The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operating licenses of 4,173 Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators due to alleged non-compliance with regulations. Hakama Sidi Ali, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, stated that the apex bank exercised its authority 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).
The revoked licenses stem from various violations, including failure to pay required fees such as license renewal fees within the prescribed timeframe as outlined in the Guidelines. Additionally, these BDCs did not fulfill their obligations to provide the necessary returns as mandated by the Guidelines and failed to adhere to the CBN’s directives, guidelines, and circulars, particularly those pertaining to Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF) regulations.
In a bid to enhance compliance and regulation within the BDC sector, the CBN is currently in the process of revising the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for these operations. Once the revised guidelines are implemented, all stakeholders in the BDC sector will be required to adhere to the new standards.
The CBN has made the list of affected Bureaux De Change operators available on its website, urging the general public to take note of this development and comply with the guidelines accordingly.
