INGOT Brokers announced on Thursday that it received regulatory approval from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in Kenya. The license was awarded to the local entity, INGOT Africa Ltd, on November 1.
Under the new license, the INGOT brand can operate as a non-dealing online foreign exchange broker in Kenya, offering services to local customers. The Kenya-specific platform is already operational and provides trading services with forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) of indices, stocks, commodities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The license from the Kenyan regulator was obtained only a couple of months after the broker received approval of similar stature from South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). Earlier in July, it expanded its global reach with a new license from the Financial Service Authority (FSA) in Seychelles. Additionally, the broker established offices in South Africa and Seychelles.
Established in 2006, INGOT is also regulated in Australia and Jordan.
“The CMA license further cements INGOT Brokers’ efforts to strengthen its presence in Africa and present premium trading services to all investors,” the press release of the broker stated.
The African Expansion
Emerging markets have become the target for brokerage amid saturation in the mature ones. The African market remains primarily untapped, and the penetration of mobile phones and internet commentations make it a primary target for trading service providers.
However, the Kenyan regulator has strengthened its regulations around financial services, especially in the forex brokerage industry. Only a few brokers, including Exness, Pepperstone, Exinity, EGM Securities, the Kenya-based operations of Equiti Group and locally trading as FXPesa, and SCFM Limited, trading as Scope Markets, have gained licenses from the Kenyan regulator.
Meanwhile, the CMA issued a few warnings as well against unlicensed platforms, which are still rampant in the country. These platforms mainly operate with offshore licenses and target locals with aggressive marketing campaigns.
