Russian Forex Broker Expands into Belarus

Grenadines-based broker Invest100, under Growth Capital LLC, secured registry of foreign exchange in Belarus. The move was after the Bank of Russia revoked forex licenses from several firms last year.

Invest100 will undergo an assessment of their trading platform in the National Forex Center. NFC qualifies forex companies that have a capital of at least BYR 2 billion.

After the qualification, the firm will have to deposit a guaranteed payment to the Compensation Fund at BYR 1 billion. The now-licensed broker must then become a member of the Association of Financial Market Development.

Specific requirements require the broker to incorporate a license from the country’s central bank.

Firms won’t be able to act as counterparty if it loses more capital than the firm gains.

Capital.com CEO said the company already had strong developers, so it would make sense to expand into the country.

EU operations will be performed via Financial Conduct Authority and Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission authorized entities. Their license in Belarus is part of their goal to expand into new jurisdictions, primarily to the CIS market.

Forex in Russia

Authoritarian figures in Russia have been suspending businesses in the country since 2018. Forex used to be the exception until its central bank barred five firms from trading locally.

Essentially, Russia plans to create a framework that only the central bank can control. Because of this, the industry’s self-regulatory body CRFIN was made obsolete.

Only three major banks provided leveraged trading to retail client after Russian authorities saw “irregularities” in customer protection.

Additionally, the brokers can also hire in the wide variety of programming experts for much less than competition. Companies hoping to outsource technology services are flocking over Belarus for a cheaper labor force.

As a result, brokerages moved to Belarus, claiming the country has more relaxed regulations.

Four firms received Forex licenses in April, lifting the number to 13, which Invest100 recently raised to 19.