The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that any bureau de change (BDC) that did not meet the licensing requirements by the end of November 2025 is no longer recognized.
The apex bank also confirmed that only 82 BDCs had been licensed to operate, having met its new guidelines.
CBN published this on its ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document on the current reform of the bureau de change, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
“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 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 updated list of existing BDCs in Nigeria can be found on CBN website.
The new CBN regulatory framework for BDCs, introduced in February 2024, mandated BDC operators to meet higher capital requirements. Tier-1 operators are required to meet a minimum capital requirement of N2bn, while Tier-2 operators must meet N500m as minimum capital requirement.
The bank added that it would continue to receive applications on its Licensing, Approval and Requests Portal from prospective promoters, and those that meet the criteria will be considered for a license.