Licence strategy, applications and regulator engagement for gaming, payments, e-money, investment and crypto-asset businesses.
Forex & Investments
Forex, CFD and investment firm licensing, group structuring, product governance and conduct compliance for businesses serving retail and professional clients.
Topics: Investment firm licensingCFD & FXClient moneyConduct rules
Who we advise
- FX and CFD brokers
- Investment firms and trading platforms
- Asset and fund managers
- Introducing brokers and affiliates
- Technology and liquidity providers to brokers
Specialisations
Business models we advise
- Forex & CFD Brokers
- Licensing, leverage and product rules, client categorisation and marketing for retail and professional FX and CFD offerings.
- Investment Firms
- Authorisation and ongoing obligations for firms providing brokerage, dealing, portfolio management and investment advice.
- Brokerage & Trading Platforms
- Platform models, order execution and the allocation of regulatory responsibility with technology and liquidity providers.
- Investment Platforms
- Digital investment and wealth platforms, including the distribution of funds and other products to retail clients.
- Introducing Brokers & Affiliates
- Introducer, affiliate and marketing arrangements, and the controls regulators expect firms to keep over them.
- Asset & Fund Managers
- Licensing and structuring for asset managers, fund managers and the service providers around them.
Context
The regulatory landscape
The choice of licence determines which clients a broker can serve and how. Investment services are among the most prescriptively regulated activities in finance, and capital, client money, product governance and conduct rules differ significantly between jurisdictions.
We advise brokers, investment firms, trading platforms and asset managers on licensing strategy and applications, onshore and offshore group structures that match each entity's licence to its clients, and the conduct and reporting obligations that follow.
Typical matters
Where businesses need support
Licence selection
Weighing EU, UK and offshore licences on client access, leverage limits, capital and cost.
Multi-entity structures
Running retail, professional and international client books through separate licensed entities.
Client money and assets
Segregation, reconciliation and reporting of client money and financial instruments.
Product governance
Target market assessments, appropriateness testing and disclosures for complex products.
Marketing and introducers
Controls over marketing, social media promotion and introducing broker arrangements.
Regulatory reporting
Transaction reporting, prudential returns and ongoing supervisory engagement.
Services
How we help
Group architecture, incorporation, substance and governance built around your licences, banking and investors.
AML/CFT programmes, MLRO-as-a-Service, independent AML/CFT audits, risk assessments, monitoring, sanctions and inspection support.
Bank account opening, merchant accounts, acquiring, payment flows and safeguarding for international businesses, including gaming, crypto, forex and other high-risk models.
Regulatory, business model, perimeter, payment, gaming, crypto-asset and cross-border opinions that answer what banks and investors ask.
Platform, white-label, B2B supply, SaaS, affiliate and outsourcing agreements, drafted and negotiated to close deals in regulated markets.
Market prioritisation, regulatory roadmaps and launch readiness that let you expand into new jurisdictions in the right order.
Jurisdictions
Relevant frameworks
Europe16
- EUEU / MiCAInvestment firms (MiFID II)
- CYCyprusCyprus Investment Firm (CIF)
- CZCzech RepublicInvestment firm
- FIFinlandInvestment firm
- DEGermanyInvestment firm
- ITItalyInvestment firm
- LVLatviaInvestment firm
- LILiechtensteinInvestment firm and asset management
- MTMaltaInvestment services licence
- PLPolandInvestment firm
- PTPortugalInvestment firm
- RORomaniaInvestment firm
- ESSpainInvestment firm
- CHSwitzerlandSecurities firm licence
- UAUkraineSecurities market licences
- GBUnited KingdomInvestment firm authorisation
Asia & Middle East3
Americas & Caribbean3
Insights
Related analysis
Practice note
Building a bankable file: how high-risk businesses are assessed by acquirers and banks
For high-risk businesses, the onboarding file is the evidence banks and acquirers rely on. Prepared the way their compliance teams read it, it answers their questions in advance.
6 min read
Regulatory update
The EU AML package: preparing for the single rulebook and AMLA
The EU's AML reform moves core obligations into a directly applicable regulation and creates a new supervisory authority, AMLA. Firms that start a gap analysis now can adapt in good time.
5 min read
Questions
Frequently asked
Can one group hold both EU and offshore licences?
Many groups do. Regulators scrutinise how clients are allocated between entities, so the structure must be transparent and must not be used to circumvent protections for clients in stricter jurisdictions. We design the client allocation to that standard.
Deciding on a broker licence and group structure?
Explain which clients and products you plan to serve. We compare licence options and the group structure they call for, and you receive a written proposal with scope, timetable and fee.