Bank of Russia cancels FX dealer license of PSB-Forex

The Central Bank of Russia posted a brief notice on its website announcing the annulment of the Forex dealer license of PSB-Forex, the FX subsidiary of Promsvyazbank, nearly four years after the launch of its operations that have been plagued with weak financial performance.

The regulatory action was expected as the FX brokerage firm has filed to the Russian mega regulator earlier this year to voluntarily revoke the license of its retail brand. The announcement from PSB-Forex follows after three and a half years of operations, with the broker losing money ever since commencing its operations and only a small active trader client base.

“On December 22, 2020, the Bank of Russia decided to cancel the license of a professional participant in the securities market to carry out the activities of a forex dealer dated April 7, 2017 No. 045-14023-020000, issued to PSB-Forex Limited Liability Company (INN 7725323192; OGRN 1167746652193), for on the basis of a license waiver application,” the central bank said in a statement.

PSB-Forex was one of the handful of firms that have Forex dealer licenses in Russia. In December 2018, the Central Bank of Russia annulled the licenses of several Russian FX brokers, including Alpari, Forex Club and TeleTrade. In its official announcement back then, the Central Bank explained that the licenses of five companies – Forex Club, Alpari Forex, Trustforex, Fix Trade, and TeleTrade Group, were taken away due to the companies' violations of the Russian law.