Obtaining a brokerage license in Latvia

Requirements:

• Before submitting the application, it is necessary to study the regulations of the Decree "On the market of financial instruments", which is the main legal act for control over the economic sphere of the country.

• Shareholders of the company holding the license are required to confirm their experience of ownership and management of large capital. The requirement concerns only those co-owners who hold more than 10% of the shares of the enterprise.

• When recruiting staff, the founder has the right to independently decide on job competence of employees and adequacy of their qualifications, but the audit commission can challenge this decision.Verification of the enterprise is carried out annually, in case of identification of nonconformities, the license can be suspended or withdrawn.

• If the shareholder has several packages of securities from various corporations, this should not prevent him from developing an investment company with a brokerage license.

• Material status of the organization's owners must be documented. In addition, it is necessary to provide documents on the origin of funds. If one of the beneficial owners is suspected of shadow and underhanded raising of income, it will damage the reputation of the whole firm.

• For establishment of the authorized capital, intangible assets can not be applied. Minimum contribution level after registration of the bank account is 125 thousand euros. Depending on the spectrum of the firm's activities, irreducible threshold may increase to 730 thousand euros. Details on formulas for calculation of regulatory capital need to be clarified by specialists of our company.

• Jurisdiction of Latvia requires employment of at least two resident directors of the country in the staff for high managerial positions. Their professionalism and experience is thoroughly tested. It is necessary to attach information about the education and former workplaces of managers in the package of documentation.

• All subsidiaries of a licensed investment company must work in the same field as the main office. Registration of other types of activities for this legal entity is prohibited.

• Due to the procedure of passportization, the license for brokerage activity of Latvia is valid throughout the EU. The certificate is renewed every year. To prolong it is necessary to make a small contribution of fee to the state fund.

• A mandatory requirement is the presence of at least 2 local directors (Latvia citizens) in the company structure.