LeapRate Exclusive… LeapRate has learned that Plus500 BG EOOD, the Bulgarian subsidiary of global CFD broker Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS), has been denied by the country’s financial regulator Financial Services Commission (FSC) in its application to receive a financial services license in Bulgaria.
The regulator did not state a reason for its decision.
Plus500 has more than 150 employees in its Sofia, Bulgaria office (pictured above), having outsourced much of its customer support and documentation work from its Israel headquarters to the Bulgarian capital.
We believe that given its large physical presence in the country, Plus500 decided to try and acquire a local license despite not really requiring one to either run an operational services business, or to take on Bulgarian clients. Plus500 already has licensed subsidiaries in other EU countries (UK, Cyprus), and as such is able to passport those licenses to other EEA countries, including Bulgaria. Plus500 also has licensed subsidiaries in Australia and Israel. The publicly traded company has grown to become one of the world’s largest Retail FX brokers, posting Revenues of more than $100 million in its most recent quarter.
LeapRate spoke with company representatives who intimated that the license denial was based on a procedural issue. And, that in any event, a decision was taken to withdraw the application since (as we noted above) the license was not really needed above those which the company already has in place.