CBN bans forex sale to bureau de change operators

The Central Bank of Nigeria has stopped the sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators in the country.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, made the announcement on Tuesday at the end of the monetary policy committee meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
The CBN governor said the BDC operators had become a conduit for illegal financial flows working with corrupt people to conduct money laundering in Nigeria.
Emefiele said, “They have turned themselves away from their objectives. They are now agents that facilitate graft and corruption in the country.
“We cannot continue with the bad practices that are happening at the BDC market.”
The CBN governor added that there was evidence of prevailing ownership of several BDCs by the same promoters to procure multiple forex from the central bank.
He said, “Several international organisations, embassies patronise the BDC through illegal forex dealer to fund their institutions.
“We will deal ruthlessly with Nigerian banks that deal with illegal BDCs and we will report foreign organisations patronising them.”
He said the CBN would henceforth channel weekly allocations of dollar sales to commercial banks to meet legitimate FX demands and directed banks to sell forex to every customer.