The Bank of Russia today announced the award of the first ever Forex dealer license in Russia, with the recipient being FINAM Forex, the company which first applied for the coveted authorization about a month ago.
Given that the regulator has up to 60 days to review the applications for Forex dealer licenses, we can safely say that it acted rather swiftly.
FINAM Forex is now officially the first regulated Forex dealer in Russia. The rest of the companies that wish to obtain such authorization have to do so before the end of 2015, as those without the necessary permissions will have to quit the Russian Forex market from January 1, 2016.
Whereas many consider the deadline as too tight and are pushing for extension of the period necessary to obtain the license, several companies, including Forex Club and TeleTrade have already submitted their license applications with the Bank of Russia.
Under the newborn Russian Forex law, companies offering Forex trading services have to obtain Forex dealer licenses in case they wish to operate in Russia or target Russian residents. The law imposes strict rules for marketing of Forex services, client funds protection, etc. It also introduces restrictions on maximum leverage (up to 50x), a limit contested by many Forex market participants.
To view the official announcement on the license granting, click here.