The Central Bank of Nigeria has today commenced the refund of capital deposits and licensing fees (where applicable) to promoters who have pending Bureaux De Change (BDC) license applications with the CBN.
The recent move is a following a shake-up earlier announced during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing of July 27, 2021, restricting BDC operators from accessing FX, due to what the CBN perceived as connivance to frustrate its FX policies and programmes, stemming from the unbridled profiteering tendencies of the BDCs.
According to a recent notice signed by the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department in CBN, Ibrahim Tukur, BDC operators with pending licence are advised to forward their requests for a refund in writing. The request should be addressed to the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja, and should be submitted in both hard and soft copies.
READ: Digital Currency: CBN Targets October for the Launch
The hard copy should be forwarded to CBN Head office, Central Business District Abuja or CBN Head Office Annex, Tinubu Square, Lagos in an envelope clearly marked ‘’Refund of BDC Capital Deposit’’ at its top left corner. On the other hand, the soft copy may be sent in advance of the hard copy to fprdlicensing@cbn.gov.ng
It is pertinent to note that the requests should be accompanied with the following documents;
- Telex copy of the capital deposit of N35 million
- Account details for the refund, which should be the same as the amount from which the capital deposit originated, including the:
- Bank name
- Account name
- Account number
- Copy of the bank draft/telex for payment of licensing fee of N1 million (if any).
In summary, the CBN also charged commercial banks to stop accepting instructions from customers to transfer capital deposit of N35 million to the designated CBN account for the purpose of applying for BDC licenses.
