On November 27, 2022, the operating procedures of forex companies were improved by the enactment of the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus No. 415 dated October 31, 2022, "On Amendments to the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus No. 67 dated February 10, 2016" (hereinafter - the "Resolution No. 415").
Resolution No. 415 provides an opportunity for Belarusian forex companies to organize their work according to two models:
- the B-BOOK model, according to which forex
companies may not withdraw aggregate open positions of their
clients to an external counterparty and process them
independently.
In order to operate under this model, Resolution No. 415 stipulates the following requirements for forex companies:- to have an authorized capital of not less than 1 million USD and
- to have an equity capital of at least 2 million USD and
- to manage its risks by carrying out certain transactions, stipulated by Resolution No. 415, in particular by transactions with crypto currencies trader on Belarusian crypto exchanges and crypto exchange that are residents of the HighTech Park.
- the A-BOOK model, under which forex companies
hedge their risks by placing the aggregate open positions of their
clients with an external counterparty.
Under this model, Belarusian forex companies are now entitled to withdraw aggregate open positions of their clients to any non-resident external counterparty, provided one of the following requirements (any of them) is met:- the counterparty has a special permit (license) granting the right to operate in the OTC forex market;
- the counterparty is registered in a country, legislation of which allows (does not prohibit) the conclusion of aggregate open positions of clients on the such counterparty.
Note: Previously, Belarusian forex companies were entitled to transfer aggregate open positions of their clients only to a non-resident counterparty that complied with one of the following criteria (any):
- had a special permit (license) granting the right to operate in the OTC forex market, issued by one of the organizations previously defined in Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus No. 67 of 10.02.2016 "On Certain Issues of Operations in the OTC forex market";
- was a legal entity in relation to which the Belarusian forex company acted as a subsidiary or associate;
- the counterparty's obligations to the Belarusian forex company were guaranteed by a bank whose country of incorporation was not an offshore zone.
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