The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operational licenses of 4,173 Bureau De Change Operators. The list of affected BDC operators was released on the bank’s website on Friday.
The apex bank in a statement by its spokeswoman, Sidi Hakama said the affected institutions failed to observe at least one of its regulatory provisions for licensed BDCs. Among other things, Hakama said the companies failed to comply with the required payment of all necessary fees, including license renewal, within the stipulated period in line with the guidelines.
He also accused the BDCs of failure to render their returns in line with the guidelines, as well as refusal to comply with guidelines, directives, and circulars of the CBN particularly bordering on Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF) regulations. Hakama said the bank acted in the 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 Bureau De Change 2015 (the Guidelines).
