• Unveils digital tracker for monitoring, purchase requests

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled a new suite of regulations, guiding the operations of bureaus de change (BDCs), including foreign exchange purchase requests, eligibility, grounds for rejection, disbursement, reporting, as well as business relationships between the operators and the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).

As part of the new regulations, BDCs‘ weekly purchases from authorised market dealers are capped at $150,000, an amount that cannot be accessed through a third-party account, effective July 15, 2025.

Whereas operators may submit multiple requests in a week, total purchases across all dealers must not exceed the $150,000 limit.

Reporting must capture the amount of FX purchased from authorised dealers, total amount sold to end-users, unutilised balances and a breakdown of settlements (cash or electronic).

As part of the regulations, BDCs are required to resell all unutilised balances to NFEM within 24 hours of the utilisation window closing.

Disbursements between BDCs and authorised dealer banks or end-users are limited to dedicated FX settlement accounts that must be registered with the apex bank. BDCs must also follow the approved process of reporting all transactions and filing returns.

The CBN also introduced a centralised electronic platform known as the FX BDC Purchase Tracker (FXBT) for real-time monitoring of transactions and filing of electronic purchase requests by BDCs.

The rules are contained in a circular addressed to all authorised dealer banks and licensed BDCs and dated July 15 and signed by the Director of the Trade and Exchange Department, Aderinola Shonekan.

The bank said the regulations were built on a similar circular issued on February 10, which permitted licensed BDCs to source FX directly from the NFEM through authorised dealer banks of their choice.

The template requires every licensed BDC to register on the FXBT platform and submit details of all FX purchases in real time or on the same day.

The CBN said the platform would improve market transparency, compliance and regulatory oversight.

It emphasised that only BDCs with valid licences would be eligible to participate while excluding operators under regulatory sanctions, including suspension.

The circular also tightened know-your-customer (KYC) and customer due diligence requirements for authorised dealer banks. The banks are required to obtain and maintain up-to-date documentation, including licence certificates, tax identification numbers (TIN), incorporation documents, directorship and beneficial ownership information.

The records must be reviewed at least yearly, or whenever there are material changes in ownership, management or operating status, the regulator said.

Where a BDC presents a high-risk profile, dealers are expected to carry out risk-based enhanced due diligence (EDD), while they are prohibited from processing transactions where operators fail to meet minimum compliance requirements,

The circular stipulates stiff sanctions ranging from fines, NFEM access suspension, BDC licence withdrawal and revocation of banks’ dealership status.

According to the CBN, the new framework does not imply the withdrawal of the previous series of guidelines it had introduced to enhance market stability and rein in manipulations.