Banks Divert $10b To Unlicensed BDCs

Banks are diverting dollar sales previously allocated to licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators to unlicensed BDCs or currency hawkers, an investigation by The Nation has revealed.An estimated

$10 billion may have been sold by the lenders to the currency hawkers in the last four months under the dubious arrangement.During investigation at  bank branches in Ikeja, Ogba and Maryland, and
Broad Street in Marina, currency hawkers were seen  making huge cash (naira) deposits into their accounts to enable them obtain dollar from the lenders. Much of the funds, sourced by the banks from unofficial sources especially from the International Oil Companies (IOCs), Diaspora remittances, and dollar earnings by Nigerians at home, is sold to currency hawkers at higher margins of between N280 and N290 to dollar.The currency hawkers are not guided by Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) rules on quarterly foreign exchange (forex) returns filling.
The Nation