Forex: Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria to ban street trading

Forex traders under the aegis of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) have said they will start what it tagged “Operation No Street Trading” to stop the hawking of foreign exchange by Bureau de Change operators.

This is part of the measures aimed at bringing down the exchange rate, which has been on the rise recently, especially after the adoption of the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing Methodology (NAFEX) as the new official rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

This disclosure was made by the President of ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, who said that this was part of the resolutions unanimously reached by Bureaux de Change (BDC) directors at the meeting of the operators on Tuesday, June 2, 2021, in Lagos, South-west Nigeria.

The Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria in the resolution told BDCs to improve on their return rendition to regulatory authorities, warning that defaulting members would be punished.

“All operators are to collaborate in bringing down the forex rates in the market; street trading by BDC should be discouraged/banned and ABCON will commence operation ‘no street trading’.

“BDCs should improve return rendition to regulatory authorities; margin review to meet operational requirements; widening the scope of transactions; digitalization of BDC operations.

“ABCON to punish errant members; ABCON compliance officer and staff to commence nationwide supervision of BDC operations,”  the resolution partly read.

The ABCON boss linked the continued fall of the Naira at the parallel market and Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) Forex window to currency speculators, who are hoarding dollars to profit from the currency crisis.

“The perpetrators are creating an artificial scarcity of the greenback within the market to cause more woes for the local currency,”  he said.

(ABCON is a self-regulatory body and an umbrella for all the Central Bank licensed Bureaux de Change operators in Nigeria).

Source: Nairametrics