B2Broker Announces PBS As Latest Fintech Player To Enter Russian Stock Market

B2Broker has announced that JSC Prime Brokerage Service (PBS), a member company of the B2Broker group, has received a licence from the Bank of Russia. The licence permits PBS to conduct brokerage and dealer activities and was issued in October 2021 after the company applied for a permit with the Russian regulator earlier this year. 

Strict Central Bank Regulation

The Russian financial market operates via a strict centralised approach and government influence on its activities. The government started focusing its attention on the Forex industry back in 2016, initiating the requirement for brokerages operating in Russia to get a licence from the central bank, highlighting the necessity of regulation and the need to prevent fraudulent entities and clients’ investment interests towards investment with a reputable broker. Many years of unregulated activities now fall under the umbrella of a solid regulatory regime. 

These cautious actions reflected the Bank of Russia’s attempts to clean up the market and develop trading practices in a more trustful and highly regulated way. To date, the Bank of Russia has not issued a large number of licences and there are only a small number of companies that have obtained the coveted licence as only companies that deliver clear and transparent operations compliant with Bank of Russia regulation are accepted. The news is therefore welcomed by PBS who now becomes a member of a selected list of prestigious entities. 

About PBS

The B2Broker group, headed by Arthur Azizov is well known in the industry and engages in professional solutions for brokers, exchanges and banks, specialising in infrastructure trading solutions and as a liquidity provider in various jurisdictions. PBS itself does not focus on the retail market, but on services for corporate investors, institutional players (funds, brokers and banks) and professional market participants.

After securing the licence in October, PBS confirmed that the plan is to provide one of the best services for professional traders, institutional and corporate clients, although it will not be entering the mass retail market. Few companies in Russia at the corporate level are currently taking advantage of the stock market opportunities, and this is what the company is planning to address. The goal and mission are to provide a convenient and good service in the B2B segment.

The number of participants in the stock market in Russia continues to grow year-on-year and the number of brokerage accounts doubles annually with the total number now exceeding 15 million people. However, all investors work through brokers, but brokers focus on serving retail clients, preventing professional players from using modern advanced tools. This is where the experience of a company in the field of fintech comes to the rescue – one which is able to supply effective solutions to professional market participants, banks and brokers. PBS will allow brokers to expand the range of traded instruments and exchanges.

The aim is to deliver a good product and offer banks and professional players the Prime Broker and Prime of Prime model on the Russian market with the maximum possible number of platforms, terminals and instruments. In addition, the company plans to act as a liquidity provider for a number of foreign trading instruments.

Prime of Prime is not widely represented on the Russian market and clients through a single account with a Russian regulated prime broker will now have access to all well-known international exchanges and the instruments that are traded on them.