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Financial Licensing

One-to-one advisory session with a specialist consultant for your Forex brokerage, binary options and investment firm licensing requirements.

Initial Consultation

3 hrs

TOTAL: $900

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Starting Business is one of the few international consultancy firms that offers a complete range of advisory services and practical solutions related to the formation, licensing and on-going support of Forex and binary options firms, as well as financial institutions in general.

We guide our clients every step of the way, from selecting the right jurisdiction, to supporting the licensed institution during its life cycle. We offer the following services:

  • Advice and guidance on the selection of a jurisdiction for your prospective financial institution.
  • Due diligence procedures in respect to the beneficial owners and prospective directors.
  • Incorporation of a legal entity and provision of domiciliary services.
  • Setting up a corporate bank account for further placement of required statutory capital.
  • Locating corporate officers and qualified personnel to meet, where mandatory, the minimum staff requirements.
  • Assistance with completing your license application and supporting documentation, such as the business plan, internal policies and procedures (including your company’s operations manual), compliance arrangements, risk management, and anti-money laundering policies and procedures.
  • Submitting the application to the license issuing authority, and liaising with the regulator and all associated parties until your license application is finalised.

Once the license is obtained, there are certain requirements for the licensee in order to maintain it. Starting Business is happy to provide post-licensing support to ensure that license holders meet statutory regulatory requirements. To this end, we offer:

  • Legal support and administration.
  • Bookkeeping, accounting and financial audit.
  • Regulatory compliance and reporting.
  • Internal audit.
  • Capital adequacy reports (where applicable).
  • European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) (where applicable).

We can also assist with:

  • Personnel training (in selected jurisdictions).
  • Selection of trading software and technology solutions.
  • Establishing a bridge with liquidity providers such as prime brokers, banks and Electronic Communication Networks (ECNs).
  • Payment processing solutions.
  • Banking solutions and merchant accounts.

Starting Business currently offers licensing solutions in the following jurisdictions:

  • Belize
  • British Virgin Islands (BVIs)
  • Cayman Islands
  • Cyprus
  • Gibraltar
  • Hong Kong
  • Republic of Ireland
  • Labuan
  • Latvia
  • Malta
  • Mauritius
  • Panama
  • Singapore
  • United Kingdom
  • Vanuatu

Each of the above jurisdictions has different procedures and requirements for obtaining a license, and this will likely affect the degree of difficulty and financial expense involved in acquiring it. We aim to ensure that your choice of jurisdiction best accommodates the scope of your prospective activities and meets your budget.

The documents and information required to support your license application will depend on the jurisdiction and type of license chosen. However, in general, you should be prepared to provide the following:

A. A license application form, duly completed and signed.

B. A business plan supported by 3 to 5 years' worth of financial projections.

C. Your company operations manual and internal policies and procedures, including your risk management and anti-money laundering policies and procedures, and corporate governance arrangements.

D. Confirmation of payment of the minimum statutory capital.

E. A set of corporate documents for the applicant company, including the certificate of incorporation, the memorandum and articles of association, and the registers of directors, shareholders and officers (or equivalent documents). Where the applicant company is more than 12 (or, in certain cases, six) months old, a certificate of good standing should also be enclosed.

IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE

  • - Documents in a language other than English should be supported by a certified English translation (or, in the case of Latvia, a certified translation into Latvian).
  • - Copies should be certified by a notary public and legalised via apostille (where appropriate).
  • - Directors of the applicant company should be physical persons.

F. All directors, managers, officers, and shareholders/beneficial owners of the applicant company must produce as a minimum:

  • A completed personal questionnaire (found in the prescribed form), as well as a personal CV.
  • A copy of a valid passport (certified by notary public).
  • Confirmation of a residential address (PO box addresses are not accepted) in the form of a recent utility bill or bank account statement or credit card statement.
  • A reference letter issued by a bank in which said individuals hold their personal account (the reference should state as a minimum that the bank has known an individual for at least 2 years, and that the client-bank relationship has been maintained to the bank’s satisfaction).
  • A professional reference letter issued by a professional organisation (such as a law office, an audit firm, certified public accountants etc.) stating, as a minimum, that the organisation in question has known the individual for at least 2 years and that any business affairs have been conducted satisfactorily.
  • A clean criminal record certificate issued by the local police.

IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE

  • Documents referred to in points 4, 5, 6 and 7 should be less than 3 months old at the date of submission to the regulator.
  • Documents in a language other than English should be supported by a certified English translation (or, in the case of Latvia, a certified translation into Latvian).
  • If a shareholder or an officer of the applicant company is a body corporate, then such body corporate shall provide the same documents as stated in section E, whereas each director, officer and shareholder/beneficial owner of the said body corporate shall provide the documents numbered from 1 to 7 in Section F.
  • Please note that your license issuing authority may require additional information or documentation.