Central Bank of Russia grants FX dealer license to BCS-Forex
The Central Bank of Russia today announced that it has granted a Forex dealer license to Brokercreditservice – Forex (BCS-Forex).
The central bank says the broker is based in Moscow, although its website provides an address in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The regulator does not explain the rationale for issuing the broker with the license. The news, however, is welcome, given the scarcity of licensed retail FX brokers in Russia. Along with the addition of BCS-Forex, the total is four.
Among the reasons for the small number of such entities is the fact that the requirements for a Forex dealer license in Russia are quite stringent. Also, the licensed FX brokers face severe competition from overseas brokerages who seek to lure Russian traders to offshore entities. This is exacerbated by the leverage restrictions on FX trading in Russia imposed several years ago when the first version of the Forex law came into effect.
Let’s recall that, in December 2020, the central bank announced the annulment of the Forex dealer license of PSB-Forex. The reason for the regulatory decision was a request submitted by the broker itself.
Early in 2020, PSB-Forex was put up for sale by its parent company, with the start price for the broker being RUB 149 million. All of the share capital of PSB-Forex was offered for sale. However, the sale process attracted no bidders.
In December 2018, the Central Bank of Russia annulled the licenses of several Russian FX brokers, including Alpari, Forex Club and TeleTrade. In its official announcement back then, the Central Bank explained that the licenses of five companies – Forex Club, Alpari Forex, Trustforex, Fix Trade, and TeleTrade Group, were taken away due to the companies’ violations of the Russian law.
Let’s note that, under the Russian laws, only holders of FX dealer licenses issued by the Russian central bank are allowed to target Russian investors and advertise FX services in Russia.