By Ken Afor
In its latest regulatory sweep, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has suspended the licenses of 4,173 Bureaux De Change operators in the country over allegations of noncompliance with some of its regulatory provisions.
In a statement released on Friday by the CBN on its website, the apex bank claimed that the affected Bureaux De Change operators failed to comply with at least one regulatory provision, including payment of all necessary fees, including license renewal, within the stipulated period in line with the guidelines.
Others include reported non-rendition of returns in line with the guidelines and compliance with guidelines, directives, and circulars of the CBN, particularly Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF) regulations.
According to the CBN, the action is in line with the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5, and the Revised Operational Guidelines for Bureaux De Change 2015.
According to the CBN, while it is currently revising the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for BDC operators in the country, it however emphasized that stakeholders in the sector must comply with the new requirements as soon as the new guidelines take effect.
It would be recalled that since the beginning of the week, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in some parts of the country have been arresting some BDC operators without licences.
On Tuesday, the anti-graft agency secured the convictions of two BDC operators who were said to be operating without licences in Kano State. Accordingly, those arrested were sentenced to one year imprisonment each while three others were equally sentenced to three years imprisonment of the same offence.
