The International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) of Belize has introduced changes to its regulations (INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION (LICENSING) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2016).
According to the new provisions for trading in financial and commodity-based derivative instruments and other securities (e.g. futures, options, interest rates, foreign exchange instruments, shares, stock, contracts for differences, etc.):
- The application fee is increased from 500 USD to 1.000 USD;
- The annual licence fee is increased from 5.000 USD to 25.000 USD.
The applicable fee (of 1.000 USD) must accompany the application and cannot be refunded, while the licence fee is payable upon the Commission’s decision to grant the licence.
Furthermore, for trading in foreign exchange and in financial and commodity-based derivative instruments and other securities, the minimum capital requirements have been increased from 100.000 USD to 500.000 USD.
A transitional period is provided for the existing companies to comply with the new minimum capital requirements.
The aforementioned changes will come into force on the 1st of April 2016.
For further information, please get in touch with our regulatory team.
