The Central Bank of Nigeria has confirmed that all legacy Bureau De Change operators that failed to meet the new licensing requirements by 30 November 2025 have automatically lost their licences. This means the affected operators can no longer function as BDCs anywhere in Nigeria.
The confirmation was contained in a Frequently Asked Questions document released on Tuesday and published on the CBN website. The document forms part of the bank’s ongoing communication about its major reforms in the bureau de change segment of the foreign exchange market.
According to the CBN, only 82 BDCs have successfully met the new capital and operational requirements introduced under the revised regulatory framework. These operators have now been formally licensed to continue business in the country. The apex bank had earlier disclosed this figure on Monday, stating that the strict compliance process was necessary to sanitise the foreign exchange ecosystem.
The latest announcement follows a long compliance window that stretched across one year. Under the revised BDC Guidelines, existing operators were first given a six-month transition period from 3 June 2024 to 3 December 2024 to meet the new conditions. These conditions included capital requirements, corporate governance standards, reporting obligations, and operational controls aimed at improving transparency and reducing irregularities in the FX market.
However, because many legacy operators struggled to meet the conditions within the initial deadline, the Central Bank extended the compliance window by another six months, ending on 3 June 2025. Even with the extension, a large number of operators still failed to comply with the new standards. The CBN, therefore, created an additional grace period that ran until 30 November 2025.
According to the document published on Tuesday, the CBN has now enforced the final cutoff date. The bank stated clearly that any BDC operator that missed the November deadline has automatically ceased to exist as a licensed Bureau De Change in Nigeria. The statement further advised Nigerians and businesses to visit the CBN website for the updated list of validly licensed BDCs.
The document reads: “The Guidelines provided a transition timeline of six months from the effective date, 3 June 2024, with a deadline of 3 December 2024, for all existing BDCs to meet the requirement of the new Guidelines or lose their licence(s). However, the management of the CBN graciously extended this deadline by another six months, which ended on 3 June 2025, to give ample time for as many legacy BDCs desirous of meeting the new requirements to do so. Consequently, any legacy BDC that failed to meet the requirements of the new Guidelines as of 30 November 2025 has ceased to be a BDC, as its licence no longer exists.”
The apex bank also noted that it will continue to welcome applications from new promoters who wish to operate as BDCs in Nigeria. These applications will be accepted through the CBN Licensing, Approval and Requests Portal. Only those who meet all the criteria will be considered. At the same time, the CBN maintained that it reserves the right to stop issuing new BDC licences at any point in the future if it sees the need to do so.
The reform of the BDC sector is part of the CBN’s broader plan to restore stability to Nigeria’s foreign exchange market. The new BDC regulatory framework, introduced in February 2024, raised capital requirements and introduced stricter compliance rules. Under the new structure, Tier-1 BDC operators must now have a minimum capital of N2 billion, while Tier-2 operators must have at least N500 million. The bank believes that this change will help strengthen the capacity of BDC operators and improve accountability in FX transactions.
Many stakeholders say the new approach is expected to boost transparency, reduce market abuses, and support the long-term stability of the naira. By reducing the number of weak and non-compliant operators, the CBN hopes to create a more reliable and trustworthy FX ecosystem for individuals, travellers, investors, and businesses.
As Nigerians continue to follow developments in the foreign exchange market, the update from the CBN marks a major shift in how the bureau de change sector will operate going forward. For many operators who failed to meet the new requirements, the latest announcement means the end of their participation in the formal FX market.
