Why open a Forex company in Belarus
The global ForEx market is an international currency exchange market: some marketers sell, and others buy currency on favorable, free-of-control terms. The ForEx market is an efficient tool allowing people to have additional or permanent earnings by transacting deals based on currency rate fluctuations. Activities of the ForEx market have been legalized in the Republic of Belarus in order to attract additional capital. At present, companies included by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus into the Register of ForEx companies (hereinafter – the Register) are authorized to handle ForEx transactions in Belarus.
Qualifications for inclusion in the Register:
- a legal entity must be incorporated in the Republic of Belarus;
- legal entity’s registered fund must amount to at least 200,000.00 BYN.
* A ForEx company shall form a registered fund as follows:
- 200,000.00 BYN must be contributed in cash;
- where the amount of the registered fund exceeds 200,000.00 BYN, the exceeding portion may be contributed either in cash or by way of in-kind contributions.
Non-residents may pay participatory shares only by way of cash contributions. In order to be included in the Register, an entity must submit to the National Bank:
- application (using the pro-forma established by the National Bank);
- a copy of the articles of association;
- a copy of a document confirming the actual formation of the registered fund in a prescribed manner;
- copies of documents confirming the compliance of CEO and internal auditors to applicable requirements, i.e. qualification requirements and goodwill requirements (as indicated hereafter in section 3);
- copies of documents confirming the compliance of entity participants to applicable goodwill requirements (as indicated hereafter in section 4);
- copies of labor books of CEO and internal auditors.
* The National Bank’s website states an additional requirement to documents to be submitted that is not prescribed by legislative acts: where documents are submitted to the National Bank on paper on more than one page, such documents must be numbered, bound and signed by a duly authorized officer. On the reverse of the last page, a note shall be added specifying the number of pages and sheets, authenticated by a CEO’s signature and a corporate seal (if any). The National Bank will examine the submitted documents and will decide on including the applicant, or refusing to include the applicant, in the Register within 30 business days after receiving the mentioned documents.
* Inclusion of an entity in the Register will be confirmed by a registration certificate to be issued by the National Bank according to the established pro—forma within 3 business days after adopting the respective decision. An entity is deemed to have been included in the Register as of the date of the decision.
Examination of documents, inclusion of a legal entity in the Register and issuance of the registration certificate is free of charge. The Register is published on the National Bank’s website:
Requirements to CEO and internal auditors of a ForEx company
Qualification requirements for CEO and internal auditors of a ForEx company:
- University degree in Economy or Law. Where such person has a university degree in another field, such person may act as CEO or internal auditor of a ForEx company after completing a retraining (tertiary level) course in Economy or Law;
- Such persons shall not have faced, over the preceding two years, a dissolution of labor contract at employer’s initiative due to employee’s wrongful act;
- Such persons shall not have any outstanding conviction for a property offence or an economic crime;
- Such persons shall not have been a subject of a criminal proceeding, nor have been indicted as a defendant or suspect in a criminal case.
Requirements to founders of ForEx companies
These are the requirements to the business standing of founders/participants:
- Such persons shall not have faced, over the preceding two years, a dissolution of labor contract at employer’s initiative due to employee’s wrongful act;
- Such persons shall not have any outstanding conviction for a property offence or an economic crime;
- Such persons shall not have been a subject of a criminal proceeding, nor have been indicted as a defendant or suspect in a criminal case.
In summary, ForEx market activity of a company included in the Register of ForEx companies is a promising and transparent way of drawing basic and/or additional income. Legislation of the Republic of Belarus pertaining to the ForEx market has been molded with account of best practices of the European Union, Japan, Singapore and other mature economies, allowing to reckon both positive and negative aspects. Such approach to regulating activities of ForEx companies minimizes risks and allows founding a ForEx company in Belarus quite easily and swiftly.