The Association of Bureau De Change of Nigeria (ABCON) has stated that one of the most efficient tools introduced in the management and stability of the country’s foreign exchange market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was the involvement of the body in forex management.
The Association’s national President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, who spoke to The Nation in an exclusive interview in Lagos, stated that this is the first time the rate of Naira to other currencies has remained stabled for over one year. Gwadabe noted that this achievement was made possible by the partnership of BDCs with the CBN, which gave the former the opportunity to receive foreign currencies and sell at the CBN-regulated rates.
According to him, over $20 billion come into the country annually through the BDCs, adding that the records of its members transaction goes a long way in helping the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detect illicit financial transactions as well as cybercrimes. The ABCON boss noted that BDCs in India account for over 80$, saying that BDCs in India accounts for $30 billion annually as Indians are scattered all over the world.
“The anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws are fast developing and taking shape and BDCs is part of financial institutions, though, the BDCs are the weakest link in the financial institution. It is easier to use them launder money. Having that scenario, it became very important to upgrade the knowledge of the BDCs and to sensitize them, hence, we embarked on the public sensitisation, through workshops, and training by Nigerian Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU), an arm of the EFCC.
“Part of the sensitisation is for our members to be able to easily detect a suspicious transaction so that it must be reported to the EFCC. There is a lot of security report that people are bringing in illicit funds to create havoc and to disrupt the peace of the country. Sometimes, these launders or money bags find it very easy to use these BDCs, so they prefer to use the BDCs because of the nature of some of the operators who do not keep records,” Gwadabe stressed.
He said that BDCs were used as the vehicle to reach the unlicensed BDCs, which is the target of these money launders, as it is in line with antiterrorism financing. “We have a perfect relationship with the chairman of EFCC, CBN, the FIRS, and all other financial institutions. So, after that meeting in Lagos, we had a similar meeting with the EFCC in Abuja and Kano. This is to sensitise and train BDCs on the activities of money launders terrorism financing and to integrate reporting of these activities to the EFCC. We send our cash transection report of any amount that is above 5million, individuals and 10million for companies in the cash transaction in the NFIU. For instance, if you come to me with $10million, it is an obligatory requirement that such a transaction be reported. BDCs are also operated as an arm of the CBN. The only thing we are not doing is that we are not giving letter of credit. What the banks are doing, we are also doing. The Nation
