Other than its desire to stop the depletion of the country’s foreign reserves and curb the laundering of looted funds from the treasury, THISDAY has learnt that another reason the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reviewed the licensing guidelines for Bureau de Change (BDC) operators in the country stemmed from the fact that some of the BDCs are used as conduits to finance terrorism.

CBN sources informed THISDAY yesterday that prior to the increase of the capital requirement for BDCs to N35 million last week Tuesday, the central bank had undertaken an audit of BDC operations and discovered that several BDCs used multiple addresses and some of their owners owned multiple BDCs, which are all licensed with the CBN.

It was also learnt that some of the BDCs are used to procure foreign exchange from the central bank everyday that is in turn used to buy arms and ammunition as well as for the funding of other terror related activities by Boko Haram.

The sources said the Joint Intelligence Board (JIB), comprising the CBN, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the police and Department of State Security, had established that some BDCs in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, have been involved in laundering funds for terrorists.

The JIB was set up to monitor and clampdown on the illicit flow of funds into and out of the country through the financial system, requiring banks to report deposits in excess of $10,000 to the CBN and EFCC.

“It is not just the depletion of foreign reserves the CBN is concerned about. Some BDC are used as avenues to move money to Boko Haram which in turn uses it to buy arms and ammunition and engage in cross-border criminal activities,” he said.

The situation, the sources said, had become so alarming, which recently prompted the United States government to write to the CBN to make enquiries as to why Nigeria had become one of the biggest consumers of US dollars in the world.

“The US has written to express concern over our consumption of US dollars and they have asked to know why our consumption is so high.

“So the increase in the capital requirement was necessary to stop the foreign reserves depletion and clampdown on BDCs that serve as conduits to finance terrorism in the country,” the sources explained.

THISDAY has exclusively reported last week that the CBN was going to clampdown on the operators and introduce stringent measures aimed at reducing the number of BDCs operating in the country.

Sources had informed THISDAY that the continuous funding of BDCs depletes the external reserves by an average of about $9 billion annually as there are presently 3,208 registered BDCs in the country. The CBN sells $50,000 to each BDC weekly.

But if the CBN grants licences to the prospective 1,417 operators that are currently awaiting approval, the amount of funding to BDCs annually by the central bank could go up to $12.025 billion per annum, which according to the CBN sources is outrageous and a far cry from the past when BDCs were self-funded.




http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/cbn-clampdown-on-bdcs-aimed-at-curbing-terrorism-financing

One of Sanusi's pet project is about to be tamed.

Great job Mr. Emefiele, we are behind you on this one.