CBN Offers N35m Capital Deposits Refund To BDC Applicants
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to commence an immediate refund of capital deposit to Bureaux de Change (BDC) promoters whose applications are currently pending and awaiting official approval.
The development is in furtherance of the apex bank’s decision to discontinue the allocation of Foreign Exchange (FX) to BDC operators in the country.
A circular released on Thursday said eligible promoters of BDCs are expected to forward their applications for refund in writing to the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department of the CBN.
Signed by Ibrahim Tukur for the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department of CBN, the circular said; “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 and account number”; and “Copy of the bank draft/telex for payment of licensing fee of N1 million (if any).”
The Director advised eligible applicants to submit hard copies of their requests to CBN Head Office, Central Business District in Abuja, or the Annex in Lagos while urging commercial banks to stop processing payments for their customers.
Furthermore, the circular said; “Softcopy of the request in above may be sent in advance of the hard copy to fprdlicensinq@cbn.gov.ng.
“In addition, all Deposit Money Banks 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.” – With NAN reports
