Overview
Anjouan issues forex licenses under the same broader offshore financial services framework that produces the gaming regime. The specific authorisation covers retail foreign exchange, contracts for difference (CFDs), and binary options. A single forex license can cover all three products where the applicant demonstrates the operational capacity to support them — unlike some jurisdictions that partition the three.
The licensing framework is supervised by the financial services arm of the Anjouan regulatory apparatus, distinct from (but coordinated with) ALSI's gaming operations. The capital-adequacy, client-money-segregation, and disclosure requirements draw on IOSCO principles adapted for the offshore context — they are not as granular as MiFID II, but they are meaningfully more structured than pure offshore jurisdictions like Saint Vincent.
Who needs it
The Anjouan forex license is aimed at:
- Retail forex brokers serving international clients outside EEA, UK, and US markets.
- CFD providers offering leveraged contracts on FX, indices, commodities, and equities.
- Binary options platforms — though binary options remain heavily restricted in many source jurisdictions, limiting the addressable market.
- Introducing brokers who need regulatory status to partner with tier-1 prime brokers.
- Proprietary trading firms offering funded-trader programmes to retail participants.
The license is not appropriate for operators seeking to passport into the European Union, the United Kingdom, or United States. Those markets require their own local or EU-equivalent authorisation — the Anjouan license will not provide access.
Cost
A realistic year-one budget for an Anjouan forex license runs €25,000–€45,000 depending on product scope and proprietary technology complexity.
| Line item | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application fee | 10,000 | 12,000 | 15,000 |
| Annual license fee · year 1 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 |
| Company formation | 2,500 | 3,500 | 5,000 |
| Registered agent · 1 yr | 1,200 | 1,800 | 2,400 |
| Compliance policy drafting | 4,000 | 7,000 | 10,000 |
| Compliance officer · 1 yr | 8,000 | 12,000 | 18,000 |
| Capital adequacy (not spent) | 50,000 | 100,000 | 250,000 |
| Year-1 cash cost (excl. capital) | 33,700 | 46,300 | 62,400 |
Capital adequacy is locked in a ring-fenced account, not spent. It represents tied-up working capital, not a fee. See the capital adequacy section below.
Requirements
The forex application package includes everything in the gaming requirements set plus forex-specific additions:
- Company incorporation in Anjouan with financial services-specific constitutional documents.
- UBO disclosure at the 10% threshold, fit-and-proper review on each.
- Director background checks — the regulator expects at least one director with demonstrable capital markets experience.
- Proof of capital — evidence that the minimum capital adequacy requirement is held in a ring-fenced account before licensing.
- Risk management policy — leverage caps, margin-call procedures, negative-balance protection, stop-out logic.
- Client-money segregation policy — how client funds are separated from operational funds.
- Best-execution policy — how prices are sourced and client orders routed.
- Conflict-of-interest disclosure — material where the broker takes client orders onto its own book.
- AML / KYC policy — as per gaming, with additional emphasis on source-of-funds for large depositors.
- Complaints and dispute procedure — including escalation to an external dispute resolution body.
Application process
The forex application timeline is longer than gaming — typically 6–10 weeks from submission, driven primarily by the capital-adequacy verification and the background checks on directors with capital markets history.
- Initial scoping: confirm the product mix (forex, CFDs, binaries) and the target client jurisdictions.
- Company formation and capital positioning: incorporate and move capital into a ring-fenced account before submission.
- Documentation drafting: risk, client-money, best-execution, complaints, AML.
- Application submission: full package to the Anjouan financial services regulator.
- Due diligence and capital verification: 3–4 weeks.
- Operational readiness review: liquidity providers, technology stack, risk-management infrastructure.
- License issuance.
Capital adequacy
Anjouan forex licensing requires the operator to hold minimum capital ring-fenced in a segregated account, at a level proportionate to the risk profile of the authorised business.
- Introducing brokers (no client funds held): ~€50,000 minimum.
- Market-maker brokers (operator takes counterparty risk): ~€100,000–€250,000 depending on volume and leverage offered.
- Straight-through-processing brokers: ~€75,000, given lower operational risk.
The capital is not a fee — it remains the operator's asset. But it is locked as working capital and cannot be drawn down below the minimum threshold. Regulators perform unannounced balance checks at least annually.
How Anjouan compares
Anjouan forex sits in the middle of the offshore spectrum:
- Vs Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Saint Vincent is cheaper (the SVG-FSA does not regulate forex at all in a meaningful way) but provides no regulatory credibility with banks, PSPs, or liquidity providers. Anjouan is a real authorisation.
- Vs Seychelles: similar in structure and cost. Seychelles has more established banking relationships; Anjouan has faster processing.
- Vs Mauritius: Mauritius is more expensive (€80,000+ year-one) but opens African banking and provides better double-tax-treaty coverage.
- Vs Vanuatu: Vanuatu's tightening cycle through 2023–2025 has stabilised, but its current framework remains more capital-intensive and slower than Anjouan. For 2026 launches, Anjouan is the default alternative for operators who would historically have defaulted to Vanuatu.
- Vs Cyprus (CySEC): different tier. CySEC provides EU passport; costs 3–5× more; takes 12–18 months.
For pure offshore entity formation separate from the financial services license, see the offshore licensing guide.
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