The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that it will commence an immediate refund of all outstanding minimum capital deposits and licence fees to Bureaux De Change promoters with the pending licence applications.
Starnews Nigeria reports that the apex bank said this in a circular released on Thursday.
The action is coming after the apex bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele had said during the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday that it will no longer sell foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators.
It said in the circular, “Further to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing of July 27, 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will commence the immediate refund of capital deposits and licencing fees (where applicable) to promoters who have pending Bureaux de Change (BDC) licence applications with the CBN,”
The apex bank had been faced with foreign exchange woes leading to the devaluation of the naira to N410 to the dollar at the official window from N379 previously held.
The apex bank had been faced with foreign exchange woes leading to the devaluation of the naira to N410 to the dollar at the official window from N379 previously held.
But at the parallel market, the naira has lost its value to over N520 to the dollar, despite issuing several warnings to speculators by Emefiele.
Recalls that promoters of BDC across the country have obligations to pay N35m to the bank and other fees, also the N35m is the minimum capital deposit for promoters to get a licence.
However, the apex bank said for a BDC promoter to access the refunds they must put forward their requests in writing to the “Director, Financial Policy and Regulatory Department” of the bank in Abuja.
The CBN said the request must include a telex copy of the capital deposit of N35m.
Others include account details for the refund, “which should be the same as the account from which capital deposits originated, including the bank name; account name and account number.”
Similarly, the bank said it would require a copy of the bank draft/telex for payment of licensing fees of N1m.
The apex bank added, “All Deposit Money Banks are hereby directed to henceforth stop accepting instructions from customers to transfer capital deposit of N35 million to the designated CBN account for the purpose of applying for BDC licence.”
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