CBN Set to Refund Mandatory Caution Deposits to all BDC Operators

The Central Bank of Nigeria., CBN, on Friday, January 22, took the decision to refund the N35 million Mandatory Caution Deposits to the Bureaux De Changes (BDCs) as part of the strategy to curb the excesses of the BDCs and stop the free fall of the Naira

However, the apex bank will retain the N1 million licensing fee collected from the BDCs.

The CBN in a circular signed by Mr Kevin N Amugo, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department said: “given the recent development in the operations of BDCs in the economy, the CBN has decided as follows: The refund of mandatory caution deposit of N35 million to all BDC operators and the retention of N1 million licensing fee.”

The CBN asked all eligible BDCs “to apply for refund of their caution deposits, attaching evidence of payment and bank transfer details.”

On January 11, CBN governor Godwin Emefiele while rolling out new forex policies had lamented that “it is almost impossible for the CBN to monitor over 2700 BDCs with its limited number of examiners.

“It is almost practically impossible and because of inadequate foreign exchange, the BDCs have to source their foreign exchange autonomously. We do not have the resources to cope with over 2,000 BDCs in the country right now.

“BDCs not happy with this decision are free to return their license and get a refund of the N35 million cautionary fees besides we need more people to go into other forms of businesses like agriculture where we believe there is a lot of scope at this time.”