CBN launches Nigeria fx code

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday in Abuja launched the Nigeria Foreign Exchange (FX) Code, designed as a guideline for the banking industry to promote ethical conduct among dealers in the market, including the apex bank itself.

The code which is part of CBN’s ongoing reforms to sanitise the market and drive transparency, aligns with global best practices, while focusing on Nigeria’s peculiar situations.

Merits for Nigeria include market integrity, diverse market participation, as well as confidence and effectiveness.

The code, which operators, including bankers hail as innovative and timely came just one month after the launch of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) which has helped strengthen the naira and brought stability in the fx market.

Read also:How CBN’s new FX Code will enhance market liquidity, transparency

It includes 52 guiding principles built on six core codes, including ethics, governance, execution, information sharing, risk management and compliance, as well as confirmation and settlement processes.

All participants in the fx market – the CBN, the banks, and all other authorized dealers sign the code at the launch, committing to upholding good governance and accountability, going forward.

With the launch, Nigeria has keyed into the fx global code, a set of global principles of good practice for foreign exchange
(FX) market participants.

First published in compiete-form in 2017, the global code provides a common set of guidelles to promote the Integrty and effective functioning the wholesale FX market.

Yemi Cardoso, CBN governor called the Nigeria fx code, a very important milestone for the present administration and looked forward to a greater success with the ongoing fx reforms.

He warned that violators of the principles will be sanctioned in line with the CBN Act.

He also urged leaders of various institutions to lead from the front.

“The era of opaque practices is over. The fx code is a binding commitment to transparency and accountability and we must all play our part.

“This is our market, we must do everything possible to make it work for all of us,” Cardoso reiterated at the launch.

….Details later