Gibraltar Investment Firm License _Guideline

Gibraltar Investment Firm License

The Gibraltar Investment Firm is regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission under the Financial Services Act 2019 (Act) laws.

There are three main types of firms covered in the Financial Services Act 2019 (Act):

  1. Category 1

Firms are permitted to deal as principal, agent and arrange deals for investors, give investment advice and hold/control customer money and assets.

  1. Category 2

Firms are permitted to deal as agent and arrange deals for investors, give investment advice and hold/control customer money and assets.

  1. Category 3

Firms are only permitted to arrange deals for investors and give investment advice.

Investment Firms, authorised in Gibraltar, are also required to be members of the Investor Compensation Scheme.

Permitted Activities

  1. Investment Services and Activities – Core Services
  2. Reception and transmission of orders in relation to one or more financial instruments.
  3. Execution of orders on behalf of clients.
  4. Dealing on own account.
  5. Portfolio management.
  6. Investment advice.
  7. Underwriting of financial instruments or placing of financial instruments on a firm commitment basis.
  8. Placing of financial instruments without a firm commitment basis.
  9. Operation of Multilateral Trading Facilities.
  10. Operation of an Organized Trading Facilities.
  11. Ancillary Services – Non-Core Services
  12. Safekeeping and administration of financial instruments for the account of clients, including custodianship and related services such as cash/collateral management.
  13. Granting credits or loans to an investor to allow him to carry out a transaction in one more financial instruments, where the firm granting the credit or loan is involved in the transaction.
  14. Advice to undertakings on capital structure, industrial strategy and related matters and advice and services relating to mergers and the purchase of undertakings.
  15. Foreign exchange services where these are connected to provision of investment services.
  16. Investment advice.
  17. Investment research and financial analysis or other forms of general recommendation relating to transactions in financial instruments.
  18. Services related to underwriting.
  19. Financial Instruments
  20. Transferable securities.
  21. Money-market instruments.
  22. Units in collective investment undertakings.
  23. Options, futures, swaps, forward rate agreements and other derivative contracts relating to securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, or other derivatives instruments, financial indices or financial measures which may be settled physically or in cash.
  24. Options, futures, swaps, forward rate agreements and any other derivative contracts relating to commodities that must be settled in cash or may be settled in cash at the option of one of the parties (otherwise than by reason of a default or other termination event).
  25. Options, futures, swaps, and any other derivative contract relating to commodities that can be physically settled provided that they are traded on a regulated market and/or an MTF.
  26. Options, futures, swaps, forwards and any other derivative contracts relating to commodities, that can be physically settled not being for commercial purposes, which have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments, having regard to whether, inter alia, they are cleared and settled through recognised clearing houses or are subject to regular margin calls.
  27. Derivative instruments for the transfer of credit risk.
  28. Financial contracts for differences.
  29. Options, futures, swaps, forward rate agreements and any other derivative contracts relating to climatic variables, freight rates, emission allowances or inflation rates or other official economic statistic that must be settled in cash or may be settled in cash at the option of one of the parties (otherwise than by reason of a default or other termination event), as well as any other derivative contracts relating to assets, rights, obligations, indices and measures not mentioned previously, which have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments, having regard to whether, inter alia, they are traded on a regulated market or an MTF, are cleared and settled through recognised clearing houses or are subject to regular margin calls.
  30. Emission allowances consisting of any units recognised for compliance with the requirements of Directive 2003/87/EC (Emissions Trading Scheme).

Legal Requirements

Sr.

No

Element Requirement(s)
Entity Requirements
  • Limited Company
  • Partnership
  • Branch in EEA countries
Director’s Requirements The licensee will need at least 2 (two) natural person Fit and Proper Directors of any jurisdiction
Shareholder requirements The licensee will need at least 2 shareholders
MLRO The Compliance Officer must be approved by Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and can be of any jurisdiction
Audited accounts Every member shall appoint one or more qualified and experienced external auditors for its accounts for every financial year. Prior written approval by the Commission will be required before appointing an auditor.
Gibraltar Office The applicant will ensure to have a physical office however not compulsory in Gibraltar.
Minimum Capital Requirements
  • Category 1: EUR 730,000
  • Category 2: EUR 125,000
  • Category 3: EUR 50,000
  • Firms who obtain a permission to carry on an activity with respect to investments are required to hold a minimum initial and ongoing capital of £10,000.
  • Firms holding multiple permissions may be required to hold the aggregate of the capital required for each permission prior to conducting the proposed activity, and on an ongoing basis. In these cases, we will consider the level of capital on a case-by-case basis

Ongoing Obligations

  • A registered person is expected to maintain such books and records in a language understood by the employees of the business. These must be translated into English at the request of the Commission. A registered person must be able to readily retrieve them in Gibraltar and, if kept otherwise than in legible form, maintain them so as to be readable at a computer terminal in Gibraltar so that they may be produced in legible form without any delay.
  • A registered person must ensure that it has appropriate record keeping arrangements for compliance with the applicable laws (including anti‑money laundering legislation and company legislation), Orders and regulatory requirements, set by the Code or the relevant AML/CFT Handbook.
  • A registered person is expected to maintain and adequately document policies and procedures that cover the management of the business.

About Valsen Fiduciaries

Valsen Fiduciaries is a licensed independent global service provider of a broad range of fiduciary, administrative, legal, corporate secretarial and support services.

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The Valsen Advantage

  • We will advise you on the optimal legal structure for your requirements, size, expectations and circumstances. We have extensive knowledge of a wide range of securities dealer licenses in all major jurisdictions.
  • Valsen will assist to complete every form for each process in the best way we know how (Based on our many years’ experience with various regulators and service providers across the world)
  • We are very hands on in the post filing period checking with re regulator and service providers and updating you regularly. Any queries raised by the regulators and service providers during processing will be quickly synthesized by us and we shall craft the right responses to move the process forward fast.
  • We have a full in-house compliance support for all compliance requirements with the regulator and service providers

Our Contact Details

Please visit us on: www.offshorelicense-regulatory.com , www.valsen-corporate.com

OR Contact us on:

  • Tel: +248 4321018
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  • Email: [email protected]

Telephone:

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