CBN to Refund BDC Capital Deposit, Licencing Fee

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Those who applied to be given licence to operate in the country as a Bureaux De Change (BDC) operator but now have their applications cancelled can now come forward to reclaim their capital deposits and licencing fees.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a circular issued on Wednesday, disclosed that promoters of these BDCs should write a letter requesting to receive the refund.

On Tuesday, the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, had announced that the apex bank would no longer issue new licences to BDC operators, noting that those who have already applied would be rejected.

Speaking with newsmen at the end of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja, he said the decision was because some licenced operators were being used to carry out illicit FX transactions and round-tripping.

He said in view of this, the central bank would henceforth, discontinue the sale of forex to BDC operators and would then channel the FX to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), who are required to honour the demands of end-users.

The CBN, in the circular signed by Mr Ibrahim Tukur, for the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, said promoters who want the refund should follow a guideline for easy processing.

It was stated that the letter must be forwarded to the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department and then accompanied with a telex copy of the capital deposit of N35 million, account details for the refund, which should be the same as the account from which the capital deposit originated, including the bank name, account name and account number.

The apex bank also said the letter should come with a copy of the bank draft/telex for payment of licensing fee of N1 million (if any).

It further said the hardcopy of the letter should be submitted 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.

In addition, the promoters may choose to send a softcopy of the letter in advance of the hard copy to fprdlicensing@[email protected].

“All DMBs are hereby directed to henceforth stop accepting instructions from customers to transfer the capital deposit of N35 million to the designated CBN account for the purpose of applying for BDC licences,” the circular said.