The process of starting and operating a forex brokerage can be long and complicated. Operating in any international setting can be an exercise in bureaucracy and patience; in the forex industry, the amount of time and money that it takes to start a business can severely deter companies from starting or expanding their operations.

This is why B2Broker is proud to introduce its latest webinar, “Belarus: The Fastest Way to Start a Regulated Forex Brokerage,” in partnership with Finance Magnates.

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The webinar was designed to help brokerages bypass the hurdles and set up businesses quickly and easily. The talk was jointly hosted by Alexey Sidorov, Chairman of the Board of the Association for the Development of Financial Markets (ARFIN), and Dmitry Kazak, Head of Compliance at B2Prime.

Together, Dmitry and Alexey equipped audience members with the knowledge to start a brokerage cost-effectively in a safe and secure environment, while simultaneously enabling brokers to approach clients almost anywhere in the world with complete regulatory coverage.

This is an excerpt that has been edited for clarity and length. To see and hear the entire webinar with B2Broker on starting a regulated forex brokerage in Belarus, visit us on Soundcloud or Youtube. This is a sponsored piece.

Why Is Belarus the Right Place to Start a Forex Brokerage?

“B2Broker is a liquidity and technology provider for the crypto and forex industry. Our clients include brokers, crypto exchanges, crypto brokers, forex brokers, hedge funds, crypto funds and professional managers.” Among these are “over 350 institutional clients.”

“We provide 18 turnkey solutions in a number of languages. To provide them all, B2Broker has obtained five licenses,” he explained. “Today, however, we’re going to focus on how to get a forex license in Belarus.”

Why is Belarus the right place to start a forex brokerage? “In 2019, regulations in the forex industry had already increased. Companies were starting to experience difficulty with banking services, especially for forex fiat transactions. In some instances, banking requirements in some jurisdictions made it impossible to open an account. At the same time, it could cost a fortune and take a lot of time to obtain necessary regulatory licenses.”

“At B2Broker, we’ve had considerable demand from our clients to help them resolve these issues,” Dmitry said. “We have an answer.”

Starting a Regulated Forex Brokerage in Belarus Can Be Accomplished in a Matter of Months

“Would you like to do business in a fully-regulated, FATF compliant, and transparent environment? Would you like to start your business in just a couple of months and invest several times less than you would invest in Europe, for example?” He asked. “We’ve found everything you could want in one place with the Belarus forex license.”

“B2Broker opened its office in Belarus in October 2019, and it took us just a couple of days to register as a new legal entity and open bank accounts,” Dmitry continued. “In December of 2019, we got our Belarus forex license–imagine: less than two months.”

“We already had our verified trading software. We connected with liquidity providers, and established working contacts with market participants, banks and relevant organizational bodies.”

After B2Broker itself went through this process, “we saw that we had to give this knowledge to you,” Dmitry said. “We offer you a unique product: a forex broker turnkey with a Belarus forex license.”

With this product offering, “you can start a new business; you can transfer your operations from offshore, for example, or expand your existing business, and it will take just three months. Your business will benefit from having a single regulatory authority that is fully compliant with the FATF. You will get fast and easy entry into the markets, low capital requirements, low operational expenses and high leverage.”

Additionally, “you can work with clients from any country with no income taxes for your traders,” Dmitry said. “Your traders will be protected by the guarantee fund.” The guarantee fund is managed by the National Forex Center and exists to protect the funds of traders on forex platforms registered in Belarus.

Therefore, “we strongly recommend this as the best possible combination of price and quality on the market,” he continued.

The Process of Starting a Forex Brokerage in Belarus: Practical Knowledge

How does the process work? “Our first step is the registration of a legal entity,” Dmitry said, which he described as “a fast and easy process.”

“Registration can be done in person by visiting the local authority’s office, or online through the internet. You simply fill out the application for state registration and provide the supporting documents, and that’s it.”

“No later than the next working day, you will be issued a certificate of state registration,” Dmitry said. “At the same time, you can open a bank account. It usually takes 1-2 working days to complete this process. Moreover, the state authority will take care of the registration process for your new legal entity with all necessary government bodies, including the tax authority.”

“The next step is to apply for a forex license. After you’ve finished your application, you submit it with the supporting documents to the national bank, who serves as the regulator in this process.” You must provide confirmation of statutory capital in the amount of roughly US$75,000, employment records for the director and internal personnel, and confirmation of business reputations for shareholders, directors and compliance personnel.

“The national bank will process your application within 30 working days,” Dmitry said. “After you obtain your forex license, there are several mandatory steps.”

These include, but are not limited to:

• Transferring your registration fee (US$55,000) to the guarantee fund within three working days. (Funds can be transferred from your statutory capital to pay this fee.)
• […] Submitting reports to the national bank and National Forex Center starting from the date of obtaining the forex license. Reports about performance indicators of the company need to be sent quarterly and annually to the national bank; reports about company financial stability, trading transactions, and transactions with clients should be sent weekly and monthly to the National Forex Center.

Additionally, it is important to note that: “to start a business in Belarus, forex companies can only use trading software that is verified and recognized by the National Forex Center. In order to complete such verification, the forex company will submit an application with supporting documents and a software sample to the National Forex Center.” This verification process costs roughly US$4200 and takes approximately 13 working days.

What Kind of Support Does ARFIN Offer to Forex Brokers?

Alexey Sidorov, the Chairman of the Board of the Association for the Development of Financial Markets (ARFIN) in Belarus, described the support that the Belarusian state offers to investors in the country.

“The regulation of OTC markets started in March 2016, so we have already established some history of the markets that we can use to provide potential investors in our market,” he said. Prior to that, “ARFIN was established in 2013 to unite investment companies for the promotion of the development of OTC markets in the Republic of Belarus.”

“The main objectives of our association are representation and protection of the rights of investment firms. We make legislative proposals to the regulatory bodies that regulate the activities of OTC firms in Belarus; we coordinate the activity of investment firms, and we provide methodological assistance at all stages of creation and [operations] of the companies.”

Additionally, “we organize interactions between investment firms and government authorities,” Alexey continued. “We introduce practices of fair conduct in the market and formulate general principles of its work. We provide consultations about obtaining full support in terms of obtaining technical solutions for compliance-based legislation.”

“The Association protects the domestic market from unfair advertising and monitors for unfair practices. It also acts as an independent party in the consideration of disputes with clients.”

This is an excerpt that has been edited for clarity and length. To see and hear the entire webinar with B2Broker on starting a regulated forex brokerage in Belarus, visit us on Soundcloud or Youtube. This is a sponsored piece.