Afrigather Foreign exchange merchants who commerce on the road throughout main cities in Nigeria went into hiding right now after a raid by officers of the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC). The raid comes two months after the Central Bank banned street trading of FX and tightened regulations for Bureau De Change operators.
“The EFCC guys got here within the morning, I used to be not there after they got here, however most of the merchants who got here within the morning had been arrested,” an FX dealer in Port Harcourt who requested to not be named for security causes instructed TechCabal.
One other Foreign exchange dealer in Gbagada, Lagos, confirmed that every one the FX merchants within the space had been in hiding. “They arrested individuals in Shitta and Lagos market,” he claimed.
In February, the EFCC arrested over 100 foreign money merchants in Lagos. One month later, the Central Financial institution revoked the operating licences of greater than 4,000 Bureau De Change operators (BDCs).
In the present day’s raids and arrests are a part of a number of coverage actions by Nigerian authorities to revive confidence in its unstable FX markets. Whereas the naira briefly grew to become the world’s best-performing foreign money in March, it weakened once more because the US greenback strengthened towards most main currencies.
This week, Nigeria’s Securities and Change Fee (SEC) met with blockchain gamers and requested pleaded with them to cease p2p buying and selling, days after TechCabal reported {that a} ban was imminent.
The workplace of the Nationwide Safety Adviser (NSA) additionally designated crypto a nationwide difficulty final week and ordered 5 fintechs to cease onboarding new clients.
