Bureau De Change (BDC) operators under the aegis of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) say that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) June 3 recapitalisation deadline for its members remains sacrosanct.
According to NAN, this was made known by the ABCON President, Aminu Gwadebe, during an interview following a stakeholders’ meeting with CBN in Lagos.
This is coming barely after reports of the ABCON President urging the apex bank to further extend the deadline and reassess licensing requirements to prevent widespread job losses and economic disruptions.
The CBN had increased the minimum share capital of BDCs to N2 billion for Tier 1 license and N500 million for Tier 2 license, as against the previous threshold of N35 million for a general license.
Discussions still ongoing
ABCON had raised concerns over the recapitalization, as most of its members have been unable to meet the deadline.
Speaking on the outcome of the final stakeholders’ engagement with the CBN, Gwadebe thanked the apex bank for the move, adding that the BDCs’ recapitalisation deadline was sacrosanct.
He said, “First, we want to thank the management of the Central bank for their enhanced consultations with stakeholders.
“The CBN have acknowledged that our sub-sector is a critical retail end sub-sector and that BDCs are an important and potent tool of CBN’s policy transmission mechanisms.
“Discussions are ongoing, and with some give and take.
“The deadline for the existing BDCs for recapitalisation by June 3rd, 2025, remains sacrosanct. Also, the minimum capital requirements of N2billion for tier 1 and N500million for tier 2 remain sacrosanct.’’
The ABCON President added that the window for new licences was open for prospective investors with an agreement to accelerate the licencing process.
He said, “Other matters are yet to be wrapped up with higher hopes of reaching a win-win situation.’’
What you should know
ABCON had in an exclusive chat with Nairametrics about 2 weeks ago, revealed that the majority of its members are faced with uncertainty, as only less than 5% of its members have so far been able to meet the new capital requirement set by the CBN.
- There has been a lot of anxiety in the sector recently as the fate of most of these licensed Bureau De Change (BDC) operators hangs in the air, unless the June 3, 2025, recapitalization deadline is further extended.
- The BDCs had kicked against this increase in capital requirement, stating that it is against international best practices.
- They called on the CBN to review the N2 billion capital requirement for BDCs to fit into international standards and noted that the licensed currency traders were open to collaboration with the apex banks on some of these policies.
In a bid to allow more time for its implementation, the CBN had in November 2024 extended the deadline for BDC operators to recapitalise by six months, with the new date set for June 3, 2025.
The CBN decided to extend the deadline by six months due to the low level of compliance with the new capital requirements by the licensed currency traders.
Gwadebe had said, ‘’The BDCs will continue to remain the third level of the forex market and ensure the closing of the gap between the official and parallel market rate. However, as the deadline for the recapitalization is closing nearer, the entire sector is heightened with anxiety and with hope to still remain in the market, as not up to 5% have so far met the new financial requirements.’’
