Agency broker: €75,000
Anchor fact Initial capital, no client money€75,000
€75,000 is the entry tier. It covers a firm that receives and transmits orders, executes them, manages portfolios or gives investment advice, and never holds client money or instruments.
In forex terms this is a pure introducing or straight-through model: client funds sit with a counterparty that holds its own license. Few retail brokers stay here for long, because taking deposits moves the firm up a tier.
Holding client money: €150,000
Anchor fact Initial capital, holding client money€150,000
Once the firm holds client money or instruments, initial capital doubles to €150,000 (IFD Art. 9(3)).
Holding funds also brings safeguarding: client money is kept apart from the firm’s own. We describe the segregation arrangement and the bank behind it in the programme of operations.
Market maker: €750,000
Anchor fact Initial capital, dealing on own account€750,000
A broker that takes the other side of client trades deals on its own account, and that needs €750,000 of initial capital. Our reference names this tier as the typical one for market-maker CFD brokers.
The jump from €75,000 to €750,000 follows from one choice: whether you pass client trades on or take the other side. Settle it before anything is filed, because every document after it depends on it.
When this applies
Capital is not a fee
Initial capital stays in the firm as its own funds. It is not paid to CySEC or to us, but you have to show CySEC that it is paid in.
Checked on eu-ifd-2019-2034
The Cyprus company comes first
Anchor fact Local registered office requiredYes
The license is granted to a Cyprus company, so incorporation is step one. The Registrar charges €165 for a company with share capital and €10 per name for name approval; our company formation package starts at €1,200 and takes 7–15 working days.
Founders outside the EU do not travel for this step: the incorporation is filed online, and company law sets no residency rule for directors. The registered office is a different matter. It must be a real address in Cyprus, not a mailbox, and for a licensed firm it is where the business actually runs.
Cash needed before CySEC decides
Anchor fact Registrar incorporation fee€165
Before any capital, the fixed part is €41,375: our CIF package from €40,000, our company formation package from €1,200, the Registrar’s €165 incorporation fee and €10 for one name approval.
Add the capital tier and the minimum you commit is €116,375 for an agency broker, €191,375 for a firm holding client money and €791,375 for a market maker.
Three items are outside these sums: CySEC’s own application fee (not published in our reference, so we name it in your quote from CySEC’s current schedule), salaries and office rent in Cyprus, and bank charges.
Running costs once licensed
Anchor fact Statutory auditYes
A CIF files audited financial statements every year. The review-engagement relief that small Cyprus companies can use excludes regulated entities, so a CIF has no route around the audit.
Profit is taxed at 15% from 1 January 2026. Budget for both before you price your spreads.
The bank account is the slow part
Anchor fact Business account for a non-resident companyDifficult
Our reference rates a business account for a non-resident-owned Cyprus company as “difficult”: banks apply enhanced due diligence to the source of funds and the business model, and some ask for one branch visit.
For a broker the account is not optional, since the initial capital has to be paid in and evidenced. We start the bank file in parallel with the application, not after it.
Who this is not for
A CIF license suits a broker ready to commit at least €116,375 and to staff an office in Cyprus. It is the wrong route for:
- Crypto-only businesses. Crypto-asset services have needed MiCA authorisation since 1 July 2026; a CIF license does not replace it.
- Founders who want a license without hiring anyone. Local staff and office are outside our package and have to exist in your plan before we file.
- Anyone who needs the license by a fixed date. CySEC publishes no review period in our reference, and we will not invent one.
- Projects that cannot evidence the source of €75,000 or more. The capital and its origin are checked before a decision.