CBN revokes licenses of 2,698 Bureau de Change dealers

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the licenses of 2,698 of Bureau de Change (BDC) dealers.

On Wednesday, the CBN published a list of approved BDC’s which means the licenses of the approved operators and they were 2,991 from the over 5,689 earlier approved, meaning that 2,698 BDCs have been revoked.

In 2022 the CBN published a similar which approved 5,689 black market dealers.

The number of operators has experienced substantial growth, increasing from 74 in 2005 to 5,689 in 2021.

Former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, later prohibited the sale of foreign exchange to BDCs due to concerns about round-tripping and involvement in illicit financial activities.

The new administration has made recommendations to implement key reforms such as increasing the capitalisation requirements for BDC operators and allowing banks in Nigeria to act as primary dealers in the forex market.