Equiti awarded new license from Seychelles regulator

17 Sep 2020

17 September 2020 – Equiti Group, a progressive provider of multi-asset financial products, has been awarded a license from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) Seychelles under its newly-registered entity Equiti Brokerage (Seychelles) Ltd.

The new license is an addition to the licenses that the entities within Equiti Group have from regulatory authorities in the UK, the UAE, Jordan, Kenya, and Armenia.

Equiti Group CEO, Iskandar Najjar, said: “We are thrilled to be awarded our sixth financial services license. The FSA license is a significant milestone for Equiti Group and will support our future expansion into new regions such as Latin America and South-East Asia, as well as deliver new product offerings.

“Regulatory compliance and strong business ethics are at the core of our operations. With the addition of our FSA license, our clients can be assured they are dealing with one of the most regulated and progressive global fintechs in the industry.”

Other regulated subsidiaries within the Equiti Group include Equiti Capital UK Ltd, regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), EGM Securities Ltd regulated by Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Equiti Group Limited Jordan LLC, regulated by the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC), EGM Futures DMCC, regulated by the UAE’s Securities Authority Commission (SCA) and Equiti AM CJSC regulated by the Central Bank of Armenia.

In 2018, Equiti became the first specialised global brokerage to receive a license issued by the Jordan Securities Commission in over 10 years, and the first non-dealing online FX broker to be issued a license by Kenya's Capital Markets Authority.

A few months later, in April 2019, Equiti became the first regulated financial markets broker to open global trading opportunities to everyone in Kenya through the launch of FXPesa, an innovative mobile trading platform that allows anyone in Kenya with a smartphone, and who registers on the platform, to trade the global financial markets.

Equiti’s new FSA license is one of the group’s many achievements reported in 2020. Other developments include partnerships with technology providers YourBourse, FXCubic and Gold-i to expand its liquidity distribution.

In June 2020, Equiti Group's subsidiary, EGM Securities, signed its first partnership agreement with Genghis Capital, an investment bank in Kenya. This partnership allows the investment bank to extend its services to clients through a wider range of alternative asset classes offered by EGM Securities.

Equiti has also expanded its global payment offering and is now able to offer clients an extensive range of payment options such as e-wallets, credit and debit cards, international bank transfers in 39 currencies, mobile money, virtual currencies, and an Equiti pre-paid card.

In recent months, the company added a further 200 products to its product offering, including top global US, EU and UK equities, a range of pharmaceuticals shares, and LATAM companies listed on the NYSE.

The Group will announce further milestones later in 2020.