The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued a warning to financial institutions and licensed Bureau De Change Operators about breaking its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies.

This warning was sent by the apex bank on Thursday in a circular that was signed by Amonia Opusunju, director of the compliance department.

BDC operators who disregarded CBN’s regulatory framework will face penalties, the bank promised.

“BDC operators are reminded that they must adhere to the Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau de Change Operators in Nigeria, 2024; the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022; and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” the CBN stated.

“Any additional pertinent laws, rules, and directives issued by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The apex bank stated that all BDCs should make sure that their operations, employee training, transaction monitoring, and customer onboarding processes are always completely compliant with relevant regulations.

In keeping with the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and other laws, CBN also urged all Nigerian financial institutions to strengthen adherence to national and international sanction lists, such as the Nigerian Sanctions List and the United Nations Consolidated Sanctions List.

The circular partially states that financial institutions must “maintain a robust and dynamic sanctions compliance framework that enables them to identify and respond promptly to updates or changes across all applicable sanctions lists; restrict the use of their systems and platforms for transactions involving designated individuals or entities; conduct real-time screening of customers, transactions, and beneficial owners; and file appropriate reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and notify the CBN, where necessary.”

Remember how the banking regulator reversed its 2021 decision to prohibit foreign exchange (FX) sales to BDCs and authorized the sale of FX to BDC operators on February 27, 2024?

In the meantime, the apex bank implemented new rules on February 6, 2025, restricting BDC operators to making purchases of up to $25,000 per week from a single bank.