The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the removal of the cash pooling requirement for international oil companies (IOCs), allowing them unrestricted access to their export proceeds.
Cash pooling is a financial arrangement where a company (or regulator) centralises cash from multiple accounts into one place to manage it more efficiently.
In a circular released on Wednesday, the apex bank stated that the new policy replaces earlier guidelines introduced in 2024, which mandated banks to pool 50 percent of repatriated export proceeds on behalf of IOCs, while the remaining balance was held for 90 days before repatriation.
Under the updated framework, oil firms can now access and repatriate 100 percent of their export proceeds.
The directive, signed by Musa Nakorji, director of the trade and exchange department, takes immediate effect.
“IOCs are hereby granted unfettered access to their repatriated export proceeds. The IOCs may repatriate 100 percent of their export proceeds through the ADBs,” the circular reads.
The apex bank explained that the move is designed to further liberalise the foreign exchange (FX) market in line with prevailing conditions.
It also instructed authorised dealer banks (ADBs) to ensure proper documentation of such transactions and submit monthly reports to its trade and exchange department.
The CBN noted that the directive supersedes all previous circulars relating to cash pooling.
The policy forms part of broader efforts by the apex bank to strengthen the Nigerian FX market and improve efficiency in foreign exchange transactions.
On February 14, 2024, the CBN had imposed limits on the transfer of proceeds from crude exports by IOCs to offshore parent company accounts.
The regulator stated at the time that such transfers had implications for liquidity in the domestic FX market.
Two months later, it allowed IOCs to sell their 50 percent balance of repatriated export proceeds in the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market.