The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has waived N250,000 annual licence renewal fee for each Bureau De Change (BDC) operator for the 2025 financial year.
In a statement, CBN Acting Director, Financial Policy & Regulation Department, Johnson Ojah, said the waiver of non-refundable annual licence renewal fee for existing BDCs aligns with the Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau De Change Operations in Nigeria, 2024.
He said the move also followed the ongoing transition to the new BDC regulatory structure, adding that the waiver of 2025 licence renewal fee is effective immediately.
“Any bureau de change that has paid for 2025 licence renewal is hereby advised to apply to the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Central Bank of Nigeria for refund to its account from which the payment emanated,” he said.
According to him, the CBN remains committed to fostering stability, transparency, and efficiency in the foreign exchange market while ensuring that operators align with the revised regulatory frameworks.
The apex bank had last November extended the recapitalisation deadline for BDC operators from December 3, 2024 to June 3, 2025.
The apex bank decided to extend the deadline by six months following low level of compliance in raising new capital by BDC operators.
The new CBN guidelines for the sector also requires all Tier-1 BDCs to raise N2 billion minimum capital to remain in business, while Tier-2 BDCs are to raise N500 million minimum capital. The Tier-1 BDCs will operate nationally, while the Tier-2 BDCs can only operate in one state within the Federation.
The capital raising exercise was part of reforms to re-position the BDC sub-sector to play its envisioned role in the foreign exchange market in Nigeria.
The CBN issued the guideline after the conclusion of stakeholder consultations and in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 56 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.
The guidelines, amongst others, introduces new licensing requirements and categories of BDCs as well as revises the permissible activities, financial requirements, corporate governance requirements and AML/CFT/CPF provisions for BDCs.
According to the new guideline, Tier-1 BDC may operate in any state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), may establish branches and appoint franchisees in any State and FCT, subject to the written approval of the CBN and shall maintain a minimum distance of one kilometre between its branches, its branch and a franchisee, and between its franchisees.
It is permitted to exercise oversight on its franchisees, with all franchisees allowed to adopt their franchisor’s name, logo, branding, technology platform and regulatory rendition requirements.
By the new rule, Tier 2 BDC Licence is permitted to operate only in one State of the Federation or the FCT; allowed to establish five branches in a State of operation, subject to the written approval of the CBN and required to maintain a minimum distance of one kilometre between its branches but is not allowed to appoint franchisees.
The new rule stops commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks., financial holding companies, other Financial Institutions (OFIs), including International Money Transfer Operators and payment service providers, serving staff of financial services regulatory and supervisory agencies and serving staff of regulated financial services providers, among others from owning BDC license.
