In the last days of 2018 some brokerage companies working in Russia received an unexpected “gift”. CB withdrew licenses from forex brokers. First, a little background.
The Bank of Russia has not reacted in any way to the activities of such companies in the country for a long time. Finally, in 2016, he decided to rectify the situation and adopt the relevant law. The document established certain requirements for forex companies that operate in the Russian market. Among them is getting a license. As a result, at the end of last year 9 companies became licensed. Five of them have had their licenses revoked by the Central Bank. These are the Forex Club, Fixed-Trade, TrustForex, Alpari Forex and Teletrade Groups. Since January 21 of this year, they are obliged to stop their activities in Russia.
And now let’s talk about why this decision was made.
Cause of license revocation
According to the official version, they consist of the fact that brokerage companies do not meet the established requirements, including the provision of accurate reporting. They only needed a license to legally attract customers in the country.
But some experts believe that the Central Bank simply has no desire to develop and regulate the Russian forex market. Work with large banks has already been established, so the licenses for brokerage services were not revoked. As far as this point of view is concerned, we can’t know.
Consequences for companies and traders
After Securities revoked the licenses of forex brokers, an exchange of views began online on the possible consequences of this decision for traders and brokerage companies themselves. In the early days, there were even signs of some panic among the clients of these companies. But soon the degree of anxiety began to decrease, as there are no special grounds for it.
They will only lose the opportunity to advertise their services in Russia. In addition, they will have to close offices in various Russian cities. And that’s all. Companies deprived of licenses are registered offshore, so the decision of the Central Bank will have no impact on their core business.
What concerns traders, the revocation of licenses may affect only those who have opened ruble accounts with brokers with securities licenses. The deposits should be returned to them. But there aren’t many clients like that. The other traders trading in these companies will not be affected by the Central Bank’s decision in practice. They’re gonna trade like they did. Besides, it should be admitted that many Russian traders are least interested in having a license when choosing a broker. More importantly, trade terms. Therefore, the news that CB revoked the licenses of forex brokers, did not cause them much interest.
Some experts are sure that the Central Bank will eventually realize that the decision to revoke the licenses was wrong and will correct its error. As far as it’s concerned, time will tell.Fyodorov’s Inga21.01.2019