The Central Bank of Nigeria has set a minimum trade value of $100,000 for interbank foreign exchange trading via the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS).
In a statement signed by CBN’s Director of the Financial Markets Department Dr Omolara Duke, the apex bank revealed that the move is part of efforts to ensure transparency, efficiency, and compliance within Nigeria’s FX market. The EFEMS is designed to streamline interbank FX trading, reduce counterparty risks, and ensure adherence to CBN regulations.
The $100,000 minimum tradable amount comes with incremental clip sizes of $50,000.
The EFEMS is also limited to spot FX transactions involving the Nigerian naira and the United States dollar.
The guidelines for EFEMS can be found below:
“All trades consummated on EFEMS are binding unless canceled by mutual agreement of both parties with written approval from the CBN.
“The minimum tradable amount is US$100,000.00, with incremental clip sizes of US$50,000.00.
“Participants must set credit and settlement limits for other counterparties in the system. Transactions exceeding these limits will not be executed.
“Participants must have adequate credit and settlement limits set for the CBN as its counterparty bank.
“Participants are required to comply with the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Code and other CBN regulations.”
Participation in the EFEMS is limited to authorised dealer banks licensed by the CBN, while other institutions wishing to join the platform must first obtain prior approval.
CBN has designated Bloomberg’s BMatch as the official order-matching platform for interbank transactions, with trading hours set between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm West Africa Time on business days.
The Bloomberg BMatch system will officially go live as the EFEMS for foreign exchange trading on December 2, 2024.