The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has authorized the participation of licensed Bureau De Change operators within the Nigerian Overseas Change Market (NFEM), permitting every BDC to purchase as much as $150,000 weekly.
The approval is contained in a round dated February 10, 2026, signed by the Director of the Commerce and Change Division, Dr Musa Nakorji, and addressed to authorised supplier banks and the basic public.
The transfer comes amid a widening hole between official and parallel market charges, which crossed N90 for the primary time in three years.
What the CBN round says
In keeping with the round, the coverage is aimed toward boosting liquidity within the retail phase of the FX market and assembly the reputable wants of finish customers.
The apex bank mentioned all duly licensed BDCs are permitted to supply overseas trade from the NFEM via any authorised supplier bank on the prevailing market charge.
- “To make sure the supply of sufficient overseas trade liquidity within the retail phase of the overseas trade market to satisfy the reputable wants of finish customers, that is to tell market contributors that each one BDCs which can be duly licensed by the CBN are allowed to entry overseas trade from the NFEM via any Authorised Vendor of their selection, on the prevailing trade charge,” the bank mentioned.
Nevertheless, entry is conditional. Authorised supplier banks are required to conduct full Know Your Buyer and due diligence checks on BDCs according to current laws and inside danger administration frameworks.
Solely after these checks can FX be bought to BDCs, and strictly inside the weekly cap of $150,000 per operator.
- “Upon completion of those necessities, overseas trade could also be bought to BDCs for utilisation according to the present BDC Pointers, topic to a most of USD150,000 per week for every BDC,” the round acknowledged.
Reporting guidelines tighten as CBN targets hypothesis
Alongside wider entry, the CBN imposed tighter reporting and settlement guidelines to curb hypothesis and hoarding.
All licensed BDCs are required to submit returns to the CBN electronically, precisely and on time, according to current laws.
The bank additionally warned that BDCs should not maintain unutilised overseas trade positions.
Any unused funds bought from the market have to be bought again inside 24 hours.
- “Any unutilised balances are anticipated to be bought again to the market inside 24 hours,” the CBN mentioned, including that “BDCs should not permitted to maintain funds bought from NFEM of their positions.”
Settlement guidelines have been additional tightened, with the CBN mandating that each one FX transactions by BDCs have to be routed via settlement accounts held with licensed monetary establishments.
Third celebration transactions are prohibited, whereas money settlement is capped at 25 per cent of every transaction worth.
The CBN mentioned current BDC pointers stay in drive, signalling a coverage method that mixes broader market participation with stricter oversight because it seeks to stabilise the overseas trade market and slim charge distortions.
What you must know
In October 2025, Nairametrics reported that the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators lamented that they have been near going out of operations as most of its members have been struggling to remain afloat and meet overhead bills.
- These licensed forex merchants attributed this primarily to the suspension of greenback allocation by the CBN to the BDCs, as they struggled to have entry to overseas trade from the official window.
- The operators lamented that with the massive drop in revenue stage, paying workers salaries, workplace hire, licenses and different compliance bills has turn into a serious problem.
This was additional compounded by the uncertainty within the retail sub-sector of the foreign exchange market, with lots of the BDC operators nonetheless battling to satisfy the recapitalization and license processes.
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