President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, said yesterday that the CBN may authorise Bureaux De Change Operators (BDCs) to resume forex transactions at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) – the official market -tomorrow.
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Gwadabe spoke after an emergency meeting with CBN officials in Abuja.
The apex bank is yet to issue a circular to that effect.
Meanwhile, the naira yesterday exchanged at N1,800 to dollar at the parallel market and N1,665 to dollar at the official market on Friday.
Gwadabe told The Nation that over 4,500 CBN-licenced BDCs would participate in the official trading transactions, where banks also trade as authorised dealers.
The BDCs are expected to fund their naira accounts with the CBN in readiness for the transaction.
“Our members will fund their accounts with the CBN on Monday (tomorrow) to enable them transact at the official window,” he said.
He said the apex bank warned the BDCs on the importance of rendition of returns and compliance with anti-money laundering regulations.
Gwadabe assured the CBN that BDCs would abide by policy on rendition of returns and continually provide detailed reports on how previous dollars sourced from the market were utilised.
The ABCON boss said the naira exchange rate against the dollar would crash going forward as more BDCs have access to dollars.
Gwadabe said although BDCs were happy with the resumption of dollar sales to operators, they were also requesting that the CBN should open more windows for them to operate, including having access to diaspora funds.
“We want more windows to be opened for BDCs instead of restricting BDCs to official market funds,” he said.
The CBN had on Friday proposed new regulations expected to significantly increase the minimum capital requirements for BDC operators in the country to N2 billion and N500 million for Tier 1 and Tier 2 licenses respectively.
This is a change from the previous requirement of N35 million for a general license.
This was contained in the Revised Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau De Change Operations in Nigeria- Exposure draft.
“The Guidelines revises the permissible activities, licensing requirements, corporate governance and Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CT) provisions for BDCs. It also sets out new record-keeping and reporting requirements, among others,” the publication said.
The updated regulations encompass numerous modifications to the guidelines governing BDC activities within the nation. Once approved, these updated guidelines will come into effect on a date determined by the CBN.
The apex bank had in June 2021, ended the sales of forex to BDCs, saying the parallel market has become a conduit for illicit forex flows and graft.
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