CBN to refund capital deposit, licensing fees of pending BDCs

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, announced it will commence the return of capital deposits and licensing fees to promoters who have pending Bureaux de Change (BDC) licence applications.

The apex bank, today, disclosed this in a letter to Promoters of BDCs and Deposit Money Banks, DMBs.

The regulator also directed, DMBs, to stop accepting instructions from customers applying for BDC licences.

A few hours ago, the CBN ordered banks to sell foreign exchange (FX) to customers after it stopped BDCs from selling FX.

The letter signed by Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department,
Ibrahim Tukur stated: “Further to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing of July 27 2021 the CBN will commence the immediate refund of capital deposits and licensing fees (where applicable) to promoters who have pending BDC licence Applications with the CBN.

“Accordingly, the CBN hereby advises as follows: Such BDC promoters should forward their requests for the refund in writing fo the Director Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja.

“The requests should be accompanied with the following documents: 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, account number, copy of the bank draft/telex for payment of licensing fee of N1 million (if any);

“Hardcopy of the request in 1 above 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;