The Central Bank of Russia said on Tuesday it has decided to grant a forex broker license to brokerage groups Finam Forex. The decision was adopted on 14 December, 2015.
The bank, which is in charge of the forex market regulation in the country, provided no details.
This is the fist forex broker license issued in Russia. Earlier this year, the country adopted regulatory amendments, requiring forex brokers to obtain a license from the relevant authorities in order to continue providing their services to local citizens after 1 January, 2016.
Finam Forex filed for a license in the beginning of November this year. Under the local regulations, the Russian central bank has to take a decision within 60 business days. Another two brokers – TeleTrade and Forex Club, have announced they also filed to obtain licenses to continue acting as forex brokers in Russia.
Brokers that want to get licensed in Russia would also need to join a self-regulatory organization, consisting of at least 10 participants. Otherwise, they have to cease operations in the country as of the beginning of 2016. The adopted changes aim to increase transparency and to push questionable companies out of the market.
The new law came into force on 1 October, 2015 and has not been accepted positively by existing forex brokers, as they find it restricting and disagree with some of the definitions in it. They have even asked the central bank to rethink the deadline as it is too tight, making it impossible for brokers to meet the requirements under the new Russian forex law. They suggest the deadline should be extended by a year. The central bank has showed willingness to negotiate the regulation implementation, but the Russian finance ministry is more cautious in its stance.
Finam Forex, through its international brand WhoTrades, holds a license issued by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), which allows it to operate in all EU member states. The broker offers trading services on the major world stock and currency markets via the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and the Whotrades FxWeb Trader trading platforms. Forex Finam also operates WhoTrades.com, an all-in-one social trading network.
Source: Central Bank of Russia
