UK-headquartered ZenFinex, which offers Forex and CFDs trading, has applied for operational licenses from the regulators in Dubai and Seychelles, Finance Magnates has learned.
The broker is in the ‘final stages’ of obtaining licenses from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Financial Services Authority Seychelles (FSA). Currently, it is operating with a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) license that it obtained in March 2019.
“We submitted regulatory applications to both the DFSA (Dubai) and FSA (Seychelles) regulators this past 12 months,” Nick Cooke, Founder and a Board Member at ZenFinex, confirmed to Finance Magnates.
“Securing both of these licenses will be a key step for us as we execute the next stage of our global growth plan. Without tempting fate, it seems the final approval is quite close as we prepare our local product offering, office and team ready for the launch, hopefully by Q1 in 2022.”
Strategic Expansion
The brokerage group has strategically approached the two territories for the global expansion of its operations. The DFSA license will provide access to the lucrative Middle Eastern markets, whereas it can offer services in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world with the Seychelles license.
“The Middle East is a market we believe has much potential,” Cooke said. “Having this local presence should assist with our growth ambitions.”
In addition, he added that the broker can offer investment instruments of additional asset classes under the Seychelles license. “We plan to offer insurance protection on client accounts which underlines our commitment to a highly transparent, secure and regulated offering,” he added.
Established in 2017, ZenFinex has been preparing for its international expansion for a while now. It has already opened a couple of Asian offices earlier this year and is specifically looking to tap the growing markets of Southeast Asia.
“Other regions we are considering entering are Africa and LATAM,” Cooke said. “While we don’t want to spread ourselves too thin, we believe opening a presence in these regions is more than possible in 2022.”
Fresh Funding
Moreover, he revealed that the broker is already in the process of securing another round of funding. It is expecting to close the Series B Funding Round , raising around £5 million and that will be used to grow the ZenFinex brand and support international expansions.
Meanwhile, the company has onboarded industry veteran Matthew Wright as the new Group CEO, who replaced Cooke in the post.
“We believe that 2022 will be another big year for Zenfinex, and the brand's growth will be evident as we increase investment into both client acquisition and technology while continuing to support the rest of the business,” Cooke said.
