The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued new guidelines restricting bureau de change operators to purchasing foreign exchange from a single authorised dealer per week.

The bank also directed the BDCs to comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) measures.

In a circular signed by W.J. Kanya, acting director of the Trade and Exchange Department, the apex bank mandated a weekly purchase cap of $25,000 per BDC from authorised dealers.

“A BDC shall approach its preferred Authorised Dealer Bank (ADB) and can only procure the said amount from only that bank of its choice in a week. Any breach of this condition will attract appropriate sanction.

“The selling rate by the Authorised Dealers to BDCs shall be the prevailing day rate at NFEM window,” it said.

CBN permitted FX cash purchased by BDCs from authorised dealer banks to be sold to end-users at a rate not exceeding one per cent margin above the buying rate.

The apex bank said the one per cent margin would be applicable to all funds to be retailed by BDCs regardless of sources of funds.

It also mandated authorised dealer banks to render weekly returns on sales to BDCs in a specified format attached to the guidelines to be addressed to the apex bank.

It urged all BDCs to render daily returns on FX purchases from authorised dealer banks and other sources and sales on the Financial Institutions Forex Reporting System (FIFX).

It further directed that funds purchased by BDCs be disbursed for specific transactions, including business travel allowance/personal travel allowance, overseas school fees and overseas medical fees.

It insisted that in all cases, the maximum disbursement per transaction should not exceed $5,000 quarterly.

“Records shall be maintained for all transactions by the BDCs showing the BVN of the end-user, including endorsement of the amount disbursed in the International Passport of the beneficiary;

“It is to be noted that Authorised Dealer Banks and BDC operators shall ensure strict compliance to the provisions of Anti-Money Laundering Laws and observance of appropriate KYC principles in the handling of these transactions,” it stated.

CBN added that authorised dealers and BDCs that divert funds or violate the provision of the guidelines would face sanctions, including suspension of their dealership licence.

(NAN)