BDC Operators Finally React as CBN Waives 2025 Licence Fee for Operators
- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has received plaudits from ABCON for removing the operators' 2025 license costs
- Gwadabe thanked the authorities of the apex bank for granting his members amnesty by skipping the annual license renewal fee
- He asserted that the move shows the CBN's determination to implement the new financial capitalisation requirements for BDCs
Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has praised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for waiving the 2025 licence fees for its members.
Source: Getty Images
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, Dr. Aminu Gwadabe, the association's president, acknowledged the achievement.
Gwadabe expressed gratitude to the apex bank's management for extending amnesty to his members by forgoing the yearly license renewal.
He claimed that the action demonstrates the CBN's resolve to put the new financial capitalisation standards for BDCs into effect.
They include a N2bn capital requirement for Tier 1 operators and a N500m requirement for Tier 2 operators.
head of the revised deadline in June 2025, Gwadabe urged his members to unite and meet the additional capital requirements.
“We are willing to continue to collaborate, cooperate and comply with extant rules and regulations,” he said.
He also praised the CBN's introduction of the Nigeria Foreign Exchange (FX) Code, which aims to encourage moral behaviour among market participants.
Gwadabe stated that:
“It will address issues such as opaqueness in transactions, rates war among participants, and lateness in submitting returns on spot transactions.”
He did, however, voice worries about banks' failure to follow the CBN's order to sell dollars to BDC operators from September 2024. He pointed out that this was despite the announcement's favourable effect on the market.
According to NAN, the apex bank authorised on Tuesday in Abuja to forgo the 2025 annual license renewal fee for all current BDC operators.
The waiver went into effect right away and applied to all current operators.
A circular instructing the implementation of the Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau De Change Operations in Nigeria in 2024 conveyed the directive.
According to Gwadabe, ABCON is a self-regulatory organisation that serves as an umbrella for the authorized bureaux de change operators and is essential to the retail foreign exchange industry.
He claimed that the position turns the association into a bride of the security agencies and the regulators.
According to him, the association was dedicated to ensuring its members consistently maintained their position in the market by actively participating in demand-utilization transactions.
He added that the smooth operation of the FX market by the apex bank depended on this mechanism.
ABCON sets operating hours for BDC operators
Legit.ng earlier reported that ABCON instructed its members to strictly adhere to operational business hours from 8am to 6pm.
In a memo signed by ABCON exco made available to Legit.ng, the association said defaulting members will face disciplinary action.
The association explained that the operating hours align with earlier mandates issued by the CBN and the National Security Agency (NSA), which require strict compliance with these operational hours to enhance transparency and regulate activities in the retail forex market.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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