Belarus has its first FX prime broker in the face of B2Prime, which is part of B2Broker – a broker technology provider. The news comes from Forex Magnates Russia.
B2Prime stands for Prime Brokerage Services Limited. The broker offers a wide range of prime brokerage services for its clients with more than 800 trading instruments such as FX, indices, metals and commodities. The parent company of B2Prime aggregates and provides liquidity through multiple systems such as AMTS ECN Bridge, Tools for Brokers Bridge, FIX API, B2BX Marksman, OneZero Hub and PrimeXM X-core.
It was the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) that granted the license to B2Prime. The license allows B2Prime to be included in the FX companies register.
After obtaining the license, the next step for B2Prime is to undergo an assessment of their own trading platform. This is conducted in the National Forex Center, a special institution set up by the central bank and the Council of Ministers. As per the financial requirements, FX companies must maintain a capital of at least $100,000 and deposit a guarantee payment of $50,000 directly to the Compensation Fund.
After the first two steps are completed, each licensed FX broker has to become a member of the local ARFIN (Association of Financial Market Development). The other necessary requirement that each FX firm must comply by is to incorporate a local legal entity to actually obtain the central bank’s license.
Before 2016, FX companies and their operations in Belarus were not regulated and the absence or regulation created risks that FX brokers’ operations could be categorized as illegal or illegitimate activities. In 2016, a brand new regulatory framework came into force and Belarus has been regulating the FX industry ever since.
In 2016, a new regulation on forex operations in Belarus has come into force. Before this date, the activities of forex companies in the country were not regulated, and the absence of explicit definition created a risk that forex brokers’ operations could be classified as illegitimate activities.
More about the FX industry in Belarus can be found here: