The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued fresh guidelines for interbank foreign exchange trading via the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System, mandating a minimum trade value of $100,000.
The directive, dated 25 November 2024 and signed by Omolara Duke, CBN’s Director of the Financial Markets Department, is part of efforts to ensure transparency, efficiency, and compliance within Nigeria’s FX market.
According to a new set of guidelines released by the CBN on Tuesday, the EFEMS is designed to streamline interbank FX trading, reduce counterparty risks, and ensure adherence to CBN regulations.
The apex bank has designated Bloomberg’s BMatch as the official order-matching platform for interbank transactions, with trading hours set between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm West Africa Time on business days.
One notable provision in the guidelines is the enforcement of a $100,000 minimum tradable amount, with incremental clip sizes of $50,000.
The EFEMS is also limited to spot FX transactions involving the Nigerian naira and the United States dollar. The CBN, however, retains the discretion to introduce other currency pairs when deemed necessary.
