Russian Broker BCS Gains FCA Approval

The Moscow-London connection is strengthened as one of Russia’s leading financial markets firm launches its international arm, in the world’s financial capital. BCS Prime Brokerage Limited (part of BCS Financial Group) has been granted UK regulatory authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to deal and advise on investments and hold client assets.

London’s position as a respected international financial centre continues and the establishment of BCS reinforces London’s relationship with Moscow. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been a preferred destination for Russian firms going for IPO or dual listing. The LSE saw 43% of Russian IPO volume since January 2010 to date.

BCS Financial Group an experienced player in the domestic Russian markets for nearly 20 years, states on its website that it is ranked #1 on Russia's MICEX exchange by turnover with a 10%-15% market share of equity trading. In addition the Russian broker is ranked in the top 3 brokers in on-exchange derivatives and FX trading in Russia.

A representative of the company informed Forex Magnates in a telephone interview today, that the company is a prominent player in Russia’s FX markets with monthly volumes in excess of $20 billion and the firm has just commenced trading on EBS.

BCS maintains a leading position in the Russian financial markets across equity, futures and options, fixed income, repo and currency trading.

Speaking about the FCA approval Joseph Dayan, Executive Director and Head of Markets said in a press briefing: “BCS is committed to building a robust and transparent European business which can provide clients with both cost-effective and efficient Execution , as well as insightful and quantitative research. All members of the team have been hand-picked to maximize our skill set and we are confident that we can deliver a premium service to our global clients.”

BCS has been keen to enhance its global business, apart from Russia and now London, the firm has an office in Cyprus. The firm first entered the London market in 2012 and was operating under the trading name of BCS Financial Group.

Roman Lokhov, CEO of Global Markets and Investment Banking at BCS Financial Group said in a statement: “We are delighted to have reached this important milestone in our global business development. In launching our European operation, BCS Financial Group is able to expand its product offering and is well positioned to take advantage of the increased transparency and structural changes occurring in the Russian market, for the benefit of its institutional investors.”

Update: BCS representatives have provided updated volumes dated.