Many banks are not likely to make it as primary dealers in the new flexible forex market due to the stringent conditions set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Of the 23 Deposit Money Banks and merchant banks, only about 10 will qualify to become the primary dealers as stated in the new guidelines of the policy.

The Foreign Exchange Primary Dealers (FXPDs) system is one where interested Authorized Dealers are accorded access to transact FX products directly with the CBN.
FX Primary Dealers (FXPD) who are to be released by the CBN would deal directly with the apex bank for large trade sizes on a two-way quotes basis.
These Primary Dealers according to the guidelines will operate with other dealers in the Inter-bank market, amongst other obligations that will be stipulated in the Foreign Exchange Primary Dealers (FXPD).
The conditions:
To qualify, the policy demands that FX Primary Dealer must meet at least 2 of the following 3 Quantitative Criteria as of 31st May 2016: Minimum Shareholders Fund Unimpaired by losses of at least ₦200.00 billion; Minimum of N400.00 billion in Total Foreign Currency Assets; and Liquidity Ratio of 40 percent.
In addition, FXPDs shall be evaluated on the following Qualitative Criteria: Strong FX trading capacity (qualified and experienced FX dealers, strong sales teams, and wide distribution networks); Deployment of all FMDQ1 Thomson Reuters FX Trading Systems or any other Systems approved by the CBN; Dealing Room Standards and a Dealing Room supported by independent market risk management, back-offices and effective disaster recovery plan among others.
Likely banks to qualify:
The banks that may likely meet the conditions as stated by the policy based on the shareholders fund N200billion shareholders fund and bulk forex assets are; FirstBank Plc, Zenith Bank, GTBank, UBA, Access Bank, Diamond bank, Fidelity Bank, First City Monument Bank and likely Ecobank.
The same group of banks also have bulky FX transaction as at last month ending.
The rest of the banks may fall under the normal dealers that will be accessing the forex through the FXPD.


Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/many-banks-unqualified-as-cbn-reveals-fx-dealers-today/151475.html#gOVl1LLQ0PjLKzbi.99

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B-wxE0f3uI

[size=14pt]CBN Governor's Briefing On New Monetary Policy[/size]