The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has licensed 299 more Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the country within four months, as indicated in the updated list published on its website.
Consequently, the number of licensed BDCs has risen by 6.23 percent to 5,097 operators as of September 30, 2019 from 4,798 in June 30, 2019.
The CBN in November 2015, released the revised guidelines for the operation of BDC in the country, which put the minimum capital requirement at N35 million.
Also, within the same period, the regulator of banks and other financial institution licensed three additional Microfinance Banks (MFBs) to the existing ones.
The updated list of licensed MFBs operating in the country stood at 911 as at September 30, 2019 as against 908 in June 30, 2019.
The number of MFBs was 885, comprising 8 National, 135 State and 742 Unit MFBs at the end of December 2018, compared with 1,034 at the end of June 2018. The change was attributed to the revocation of the operating licences of 154 MFBs and licensing of five new ones, the Financial Stability Report (FSR) for December 2018, revealed.
According to the report, Total assets of the MFBs increased to N421.95 billion at the end of December 2018, from N379.59 billion at end-June 2018, reflecting an increase of 11.16 percent. The shareholders’ funds increased by 3.63 percent to N97.63 billion at the end of December 2018 from N94.21 billion at the end of June 2018. The increase was largely attributed to capital injection and the revocation of the operating licences of some MFBs.
Total deposit liabilities increased by 9.76 percent to N213.25 billion at the end of December 2018, from N194.28 billion at the end of June 2018. Similarly, net loans and advances increased by 26.11 percent to N220.95 billion at the end of December 2018, from N175.20 billion at the end of June 2018.
During the review period, 609 candidates completed Level II Certification examination administered by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), resulting in a total of 5,790 certified candidates at the end of December 2018, compared with 5,181 at the end of June 2018.
The CBN also licensed four Finance Companies (FCs) as the total number of the operators stood at 77 as at September 30, 2019 from 73 as of June 30, 2019.
The FSR revealed that the number of FCs fell to 69 at the end of December 2018 from 82 FCs at the end of June 2018, following the revocation of operating licences of 22 FCs during the review period. The affected institutions comprised 14 FCs that did not meet the new regulatory capital of N100 million and eight other FCs for various reasons including: surrender of operating licences to the CBN; insolvency; and discontinuation of business.
Total assets of the sub-sector increased by 9.54 percent to N174.69 billion at the end of December 2018, from N159.48 billion at the end of June 2018. The increase was attributed largely to two FCs, which recorded increases of N6.7 billion and N2.6 billion respectively, in total assets. An additional factor was the increase in borrowings by 3.77 percent to N103.82 billion at the end of December 2018 from N100.05 billion at the end of June 2018. Shareholders’ funds increased marginally by 0.52 per cent to N29.25 billion at the end of December 2018 from N29.10 billion at the end of June 2018, owing largely to the revocation of the operating licences of some FCs during the review period.
The CBN also licensed two new commercial banks with regional authorisation to add to the existing 27 banks. A breakdown of the lists of banks shows that there are eight commercial banking licence with international authorisation, 11 with national authorisation, four with regional authorisation, five merchant banking licence with national authorisation, four financial holding companies (HoldCos) and one non-interest banking licence with national authorisation.
