While Russian Forex market participants are pushing for extension of the licensing grace period, various providers have already started making their offers for services that the Forex brokers (or Forex dealers, as per their official designation in Russia) will need in order to meet the new regulatory requirements.
Given the Russian affinity for bureaucracy, it was not surprising to anyone to find out a raft of requirements in the newborn Russian FX law regarding internal accounting systems and systems for reporting with the regulators that the Russian Forex brokers should have in place.
Russian newspaper “Kommersant” has published some numbers concerning the pricing of such services. And whereas banks that provide “nominal accounts” services prefer not to announce the pricing details of such offers, software developers are more open to talk.
Non-profit partnership RTS says its “box” (that is, comprehensive) solution, which includes services like internal accounting, as well as reports of transactions with the Saint Petersburg Exchange, clearing, etc, initially costs RUB 2 million (around $30,000). However, monthly expenses will be between RUB 500,000 – RUB 1 million. This means, the annual bill may be as high as RUB 12 million.
Software provider Diasoft says its solution would cost between RUB 3 million and RUB 10 million, with monthly expenses for maintenance amounting to 28% of the sum. The maintenance of the product would also require two qualified employees with monthly salaries of RUB 100,000.
These expenses add to the bill for Forex companies willing to obtain Russian Forex dealer licenses. They should also set aside RUB 2 million as an initial fee for becoming a member of the Compensation Fund. Then, there is the minimum net capital requirement of at least RUB 100 million, with the sum being bigger for companies with customer equity above RUB 150 million.