CBN to return deposits, licence fees to BDC promoters

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to refund capital deposits and licensing fees (where applicable) to all Bureau de Change promoters whose applications are pending with the apex bank.

This is in a bid to effect its recent decision to stop sales of dollars to licenced BCD operators.

In a circular issued by the CBN director, Financial Policy and Regulation department, Ibrahim Tukur, to all promoters of BDCs and deposit money banks, the CBN said: “further to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing of July 27, 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will commence the immediate refund of capital deposits and licensing fees {where applicable) to promoters who have pending Bureaux de Change (BDC) licence applications with the CBN.”

This is coming as the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has assured members of the public that BDCs are still providing foreign exchange services.

ABCON president, Aminu Gwadabe, in a statement issued yesterday, noted that the recent pronouncement of the CBN does not stop BDCs from providing foreign exchange services as allowed by their operating licences and also in their operating guidelines.

“BDCs are licenced to provide retail forex services, including buying from the public and also selling to end-users for allowable transactions namely; Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA), payment of medical and school fees,” he explained.

The CBN in its circular to the BDC promoters, noted that the capital deposits and licensing fees were to N35 million and N1 million, respectively.

The CBN said such BDC promoters should forward their requests for the refund in writing to its director financial policy and regulation department.
 “The BDC promoters should forward their requests for the refund in writing to the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja,” the Bank said in the circular.