ABCON proposes unified retail FX market operations to enhance transparency

The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has announced plans to establish unified retail end foreign exchange (FX) market operations.

In a statement on Friday, Aminu Gwadabe, ABCON’s president, said the move would tackle volatility and boost regulatory compliance within the bureau de change (BDC) sub-sector.

Gwadabe said the association is carrying out strategic plans meant to “unify operators from different cadres of the market”.

He said the plan also includes the inauguration of state chapters for markets coordination, integration, and administering a united market structure.

Gwadabe said the goal is to extend its automation policies and platforms to all BDC operators across Nigerian markets and upgrade its business process platform.

The ABCON boss also said the new blueprint for a unified retail end forex market structure would ensure the deployment of a centralised, democratised, and liberalised online real-time trading platform.

“The association will sustain its engagement with regulatory agencies, security operatives and other government apparatus to entrench a secured and thriving forex market that is supportive of regulation and government,” Gwadabe said.

“Part of our vision for a united retail-end forex market include activating geo mapping and automated BDCs physical office verification exercise using the remote gravity physical verification apps.

“This will enable forex buyers to easily locate where BDCs offices are for effective and seamless transactions.”

Gwadabe said a realistic and vibrant retail end FX market supports the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) goal of achieving true price discovery for the naira.

Other benefits, according to the currency trader, include balancing international obligations and national objectives.

He said the proposed FX market would ensure the ease of regulation, security agencies monitoring and supervision as well as entrenching market visibility for BDC players.

ABCON president said the vision for a unified retail end forex market will help in the provision of market intelligence reports, enhance the local and global image of the BDCs and other stakeholders, market operators, and boost employment generation.

“The successful execution of this plan would help in seamlessly capturing revenues for government through digitised retail end market and creating a well structured, transparent and competitive platform to checkmate the menace of unlicensed platforms like Binance, Aboki FX, ByBit among others,” Gwadabe said.

“ABCON is a self-regulatory body, an umbrella body for all the CBN-licensed BDCs.

“It is a national body, acknowledged by the federal government and believes that money laundering through the BDCs or any other financial institution is unacceptable and those found wanting should be punished based on the law.”

In addition, Gwadabe said ABCON has structures nationally and across zones of the federation with its national executives drawn from all regions of the country for transparency and good coordination.