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That distinction matters. A company can call itself a broker, accept Russian clients, or display a “regulated by the Central Bank” claim without appearing in the regulator’s official records. As of August 7, 2026, the Bank of Russia’s current records show four active forex dealers.
What the Bank of Russia actually licenses
Russian law treats forex-dealer activity as a type of professional securities-market activity. It is listed separately from ordinary brokerage, dealer activity, securities management, depositary services, registrar activity and investment advice.
The category generally covers contracts entered into by the dealer in its own name and at its own expense with individuals who are not individual entrepreneurs, where the contracts are not concluded on an organised trading venue. The definition includes short-term derivative contracts that can create obligations exceeding the client’s collateral, as well as arrangements involving currencies, currency pairs, securities, commodities or precious metals that create similar leverage.
This definition was materially revised by Federal Law No. 50-FZ of March 23, 2024. Older explanations that describe forex-dealer activity only as derivatives linked to currency-rate movements do not give the complete current picture.
How many licensed forex dealers are there?
The Bank of Russia’s official securities-market statistics reported four forex dealers in the first quarter of 2026. The regulator’s participant records show these active licences:
| Company | Licence number | Licence date |
|---|---|---|
| ООО «ФИНАМ ФОРЕКС» | 045-13961-020000 | December 14, 2015 |
| ООО «ВТБ Форекс» | 045-13993-020000 | September 1, 2016 |
| ООО «Альфа-Форекс» | 045-14070-020000 | December 20, 2018 |
| ООО «БКС – Форекс» | 045-14117-020000 | November 18, 2021 |
The regulator’s downloadable list is the authoritative place to check the population of licensed dealers. It was listed as current on August 7, 2026.
How to check a Russian forex broker
Do not rely on a badge, logo or statement on the broker’s website. Check the company yourself on the Bank of Russia website.
- Open Bank of Russia → Реестры → Рынок ценных бумаг.
- Select «Список форекс-дилеров». The downloadable Excel file is named
list_forex_dealers.xlsx. - Compare the broker’s full legal name and licence number with the company you intend to use.
- For a second check, open «Проверить участника финансового рынка».
- Search by the company’s legal name, INN, OGRN, registration number or licence number.
- Confirm that the record identifies forex-dealer activity, not merely a different securities-market licence.
The individual participant record should show the legal name, INN, OGRN, registered address, contact information, website domains, participant status, activity, licence number and licence date. Pay particular attention to the listed domains. A licensed company’s authorisation does not automatically cover every website that uses its brand or every affiliated offshore entity.
The Bank of Russia specifically warns that a marketing statement such as “under Central Bank supervision” is not proof of authorisation. The company must be present in the regulator’s official records.
Who can apply for the licence?
The applicant must be a Russian legal entity that is a non-credit organisation. It must meet requirements under the Securities Market Law and a series of Bank of Russia regulations and instructions covering licensing, own funds, employee qualifications, contract records, risk management and conflicts of interest.
The application must demonstrate more than the ability to operate a trading website. The Bank of Russia examines the firm’s ownership, management, staffing, financial resources, systems, premises, internal controls and proposed business model.
The capital requirement
A forex dealer must normally have at least RUB 100 million in own funds.
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There is an additional requirement when client money held in the dealer’s nominal account exceeds RUB 150 million. The minimum own-funds requirement increases by 5% of the amount above RUB 150 million.
The own-funds calculation submitted with the application must generally be prepared for a date no earlier than five working days before submission. The applicant must support the calculation with financial statements and evidence relating to bank balances, deposits, securities, qualifying real estate and other assets included in the calculation.
Management, employees and internal systems
A prospective dealer must have, among other things:
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- a controller or head of the internal-control service;
- software and technical systems suitable for the proposed activity;
- a three-calendar-year business plan;
- at least one employee responsible for internal recordkeeping; and
- at least one employee whose functions include forex-dealer activity.
The Bank of Russia checks the qualifications and business reputation of executives, board members, controllers, risk-management staff, internal-audit personnel where applicable, anti-money-laundering officers, structural-unit managers and specialist employees.
Relevant people may be disqualified because of certain criminal convictions, disqualification orders, involvement with organisations whose licences were revoked and other reputation-related grounds. The published qualification materials also set education and experience requirements for key positions, including the executive body and controller.
Russian hosting is part of the licensing requirement
A licensed dealer must maintain both:
- a primary software-and-technical complex; and
- a reserve software-and-technical complex.
Both complexes must be located in Russia. They must support uninterrupted operations, preservation of information and creation of backups.
For a business owner, this means a purely offshore operating model is not compatible with the statutory technology requirement for a Russian-licensed forex dealer. For a customer, it is another reason to distinguish a Russian licensed entity from an offshore website that merely markets to Russian residents.
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SRO membership is mandatory
A forex dealer cannot begin conducting its activity simply because the Bank of Russia has issued the licence. It must also join a financial-market self-regulatory organisation that unites forex dealers.
This is a statutory condition, not optional membership in a trade association. The Bank of Russia maintains a unified SRO register showing each organisation’s name, inclusion date, regulated activity, INN, OGRN, address and members. It also maintains a dedicated Committee on Standards for Forex-Dealer Activity.
The current standards should be checked rather than assumed. The current Basic Standard for Financial-Market Transactions in Forex-Dealer Activity was agreed on June 8, 2026, approved by the Bank of Russia on July 9, 2026, and became effective on July 14, 2026. The standards page also lists active standards on client protection and forex-dealer risk management.
What the licensing application involves
The Bank of Russia’s current admission route is found under Деятельность → Допуск на финансовый рынок → Навигатор по процедурам допуска → Профессиональные участники рынка ценных бумаг. Forex-dealer activity is admitted through the licensing, or разрешительный, procedure.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThe practical sequence is:
- Review the Securities Market Law and applicable Bank of Russia regulations.
- Test the proposed company against the licensing requirements.
- Check the qualifications and business reputation of managers and employees.
- Prepare the application and supporting documents.
- Pay the state fee.
- Submit the package to the Bank of Russia.
- Prepare for verification activities, including a possible premises inspection.
- Wait for the decision or respond to regulator requests.
Applications and attachments are submitted through the Личный кабинет участника информационного обмена, using the screen form «4010 Соискатели». The Bank of Russia’s licensing page provides instructions for opening a temporary personal account and video instructions for using the system.
The state fee is RUB 35,000 for reviewing an application for each type of professional activity. The published budget-classification code is 99910807081010300110. The fee is not refundable if the application is refused.
Documents the applicant must prepare
The checklist includes:
- the licence application;
- questionnaires for managers, employees and shareholders;
- evidence of qualifications and business reputation;
- the own-funds calculation and supporting financial documents;
- evidence concerning bank accounts, deposits and securities;
- documents confirming payment for shares or ownership interests;
- the three-year business plan;
- documents confirming the software and technical systems;
- internal-accounting documents or planned procedures for recording contracts and related transactions;
- evidence that premises in Russia may lawfully be used;
- conflict-of-interest identification and management documents; and
- additional information about participating legal entities and individuals.
For individuals connected with the applicant, the checklist may require employment-history information for the preceding three years. Certain foreign nationals, foreign residents and people holding foreign citizenship or residence rights may also need to provide criminal-record and disqualification documents.
Review periods and regulator inspections
The Bank of Russia may require corrected documents when the submitted material has defects in format or content. For corrected documents requested under the relevant provision of Regulation No. 798-P, the review period is 60 working days from the date the requested documents are submitted.
The regulator may request additional information if the application conflicts with information found during verification or information already held by the Bank of Russia. The review period is suspended while the request is outstanding. Failure to provide the documents by the stated deadline can end consideration of the application.
Verification may take place at the applicant’s registered address or at the Russian address where it plans to conduct the professional activity. The Bank of Russia must notify the applicant no later than one working day before the verification begins. Inspectors may inspect premises, request supporting documents and ask for oral or written explanations.
Important limits for retail clients
A Bank of Russia licence does not mean that an ordinary retail customer receives unlimited access to leveraged products.
Under the current statute, contracts falling within the forex-dealer definition may generally be concluded with an individual who is not an individual entrepreneur only if the dealer has recognised that person as a qualified investor, unless a statutory exception applies. If a dealer unlawfully grants that status, it may have to compensate the client’s losses and related expenses.
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The law also sets collateral-to-obligation ratios:
| Client or product | Statutory ratio |
|---|---|
| Non-qualified individual, generally | At least 1:30 |
| Foreign currency or currency-pair contracts | 1:40 until January 1, 2027; then 1:30 |
| Qualified investor | At least 1:50 |
The Bank of Russia can change ratios depending on the underlying asset or contract subject. Therefore, the familiar claim that Russian licensed dealers simply offer “1:50 leverage” is not a reliable description of the legal framework.
How client money must be handled
For an individual client, money provided as security must be transferred from the client’s bank account to a nominal account opened by the dealer at a bank in Russia. Client funds must be accounted for separately in special sections of that nominal account for each beneficial client.
The dealer may issue instructions on the nominal account without a separate client instruction only to perform the relevant contract or terminate all obligations under the client’s contracts when the statutory grounds for termination arise. Monetary obligations between the dealer and a non-individual-entrepreneur individual must be performed without cash.
Framework agreements and prohibited conduct
The dealer must use a framework agreement containing the general terms of the parties’ obligations. Individual contracts are formed through the dealer’s quotations and the customer’s applications under that agreement.
The framework-agreement text must be registered with the relevant forex-dealer SRO before it is used. A term that limits the dealer’s liability is void.
The dealer may not:
- use an unregistered framework agreement;
- enter into an individual contract without the client’s application;
- offer equivalent contracts to different counterparties on different terms during the same regulatory period;
- change an individual contract unilaterally after it has been concluded;
- terminate an individual contract unilaterally;
- change a purchase quotation without a corresponding change to the sale quotation; or
- lend money to a non-individual-entrepreneur individual.
A transaction in which the dealer lends money to such an individual is legally void.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does the company name prove anything?
Russian law restricts use of «форекс», its derivatives and combinations containing the word in a company’s corporate name to forex dealers.
That restriction is useful but not sufficient. It concerns corporate names, not every website, advertisement or brand. A website containing the word “forex” is not automatically licensed. Check the legal entity and its licence in the Bank of Russia’s records.
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A Bank of Russia forex-dealer licence is not a universal authorisation. It does not automatically make the company:
- a securities broker for every type of investment product;
- authorised to offer every CFD or derivative;
- an organised-market or exchange-trading participant; or
- authorised to provide services through every affiliated or foreign website.
The licence covers the regulated forex-dealer activity described in Article 4.1 of the Securities Market Law. Other activities require their own legal basis and, where applicable, a separate licence.
A practical check before depositing money
- Identify the exact Russian legal entity behind the website.
- Find that entity in the Bank of Russia’s participant service.
- Confirm that its status is active.
- Confirm that the listed activity is forex-dealer activity.
- Compare the official website domain with the domain asking you to deposit.
- Check the broker’s SRO membership.
- Read the framework agreement, margin rules and qualified-investor requirements.
- Check where client money is to be deposited and whether the payment route matches the statutory structure.
- Search the Bank of Russia’s warning list if the company is absent from the official register or uses pressure tactics.
Acceptance of Russian clients is not evidence of a Russian licence. Nor is an overseas regulatory authorisation, a Russian-language website or a claim that the broker is “under supervision”.
FAQ
How do I verify a forex broker licence in Russia?
Use the Bank of Russia’s «Список форекс-дилеров» and the «Проверить участника финансового рынка» service. Search by legal name, INN, OGRN or licence number, then confirm active status, forex-dealer activity and the website domains listed in the official record.
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How many Bank of Russia-licensed forex dealers are active?
The Bank of Russia’s first-quarter 2026 securities-market statistics reported four. The active records are for FINAM Forex, VTB Forex, Alfa-Forex and BCS-Forex.
Is a Russian forex licence the same as a broker licence?
No. Forex-dealer activity is a separate professional securities-market category. A forex-dealer licence does not automatically authorise ordinary securities brokerage, every CFD product or exchange trading.
Is membership in a forex SRO optional?
No. A licensed forex dealer may conduct its activity only after joining the relevant financial-market self-regulatory organisation that unites forex dealers.
What is the minimum capital for a Russian forex dealer?
The minimum own-funds requirement is RUB 100 million. If client money in the dealer’s nominal account exceeds RUB 150 million, the minimum increases by 5% of the excess.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteCan an offshore broker claim to have a Bank of Russia licence?
Not merely because it accepts Russian clients or operates a Russian-language website. The exact legal entity must appear in the Bank of Russia’s official participant records with an active forex-dealer licence.
Is leverage always 1:50 for Russian retail forex?
No. The statutory collateral ratios vary by client status and product. The general ratio for a non-qualified individual is at least 1:30; currency and currency-pair contracts use 1:40 until January 1, 2027, then 1:30; qualified investors have a ratio of at least 1:50.
The Bottom Line
Russian forex regulation is narrow and specific. A legitimate dealer should appear in the Bank of Russia’s official forex-dealer list, show an active licence for the correct activity, use the domains recorded by the regulator and belong to the relevant forex SRO. It must also comply with Russian capital, staffing, technology, client-money, contract and leverage rules.
Before depositing, verify the legal entity—not just the brand. If the company is missing from the Bank of Russia’s records, accepting Russian clients is not a substitute for a licence.
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