Registration of a financial company in Ukraine: stages and procedural points

Today, a good investment is not only the financial resources invested in the business, but also the time spent, or rather the time wisely invested to start and develop your own business. 

We will tell you how to use your resources wisely when starting a business in the financial sector if you want to start a business quickly and easily.

What is a financial company? 

A financial company is an organization that provides various services related to the use and movement of funds from one Client to another, on the basis of the license.

Many people usually think that the most difficult procedure will be to obtain a license, but they forget that the establishment of a financial company is a multi-stage process that takes a lot of time and money (especially if the procedure is conducted wrong). 

Let’s elaborate on the types of financial institutions and services, and what training an applicant needs to undergo in order for his/her business to become active and fully operational. 

Financial institutions include:

• banks;
• insurance companies;
• pension funds;
• credit unions;
• investment foundations, investment trust companies;
• brokerage companies;
• dealer companies;
• stock exchange.

Financial companies can also be divided into banking and non-banking institutions, such as leasing companies, insurance companies, credit unions, stock exchanges and other organizations that are not banks.

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Who registers and licenses financial organizations? 

In Ukraine, licensing of financial organizations is conducted by the National Bank of Ukraine. Due to the fact that it has been doing this since July 2020 (previously such licenses were issued by the National Commission for State Regulation of Financial Services Markets (National commission)), today we have no accurate idea about the period of registration of financial institutions and changes in the conditions of their licensing. This is due to the fact that in practice not enough companies have been licensed by the NBU. 

Please note! Our company is one of the few that can offer you legal support now, despite the change in the licensing authority, and help you achieve the desired result. 

The NBU issues the following types of Financial Licenses:

1. For non-banking financial institutions to provide the following financial services:

• attracting financial assets with an obligation to return them;
• financial leasing;
• providing funds as a loan, including on the terms of a financial loan;
• provision of guarantees;
• in the sphere of insurance;
• factoring.

2. For non-banking financial institutions and postal service operators to provide the following services:

• transfer of funds;
• foreign exchange transactions.

3. For legal entities to provide the following services:

• financial leasing;
• cash-in-transit services to banks.

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Procedure for registering a financial company and obtaining a license for such a company 

Stage 1. Company registration.

Your company, like any other legal entity wishing to acquire such status, must be registered in the Unified State Register.

To successfully pass this stage and all subsequent steps, you must take immediate care of such things as: 

• Amount of the authorized share capital. 

For example, the authorized share capital of a factoring company must be not less than 3 million hryvnia. 

• Compliance of the future director with the position to be held. 

This requirement refers to his/her education, work experience and length of service, his/her last job and position, whether the person has an impeccable reputation, etc.

• Correctly drafted charter of the company from the very beginning. 

In case of registration of a financial company we advise not to use the standard template charter for registration of legal entities. The Charter should be drafted responsibly, because, for example, specifying in it any other activities, except for financial services, may result in rejection of company registration with the NBU, not to mention problems with obtaining a Financial License. 

Stage 2. Registration in the Register of Financial Institutions.

You must register with the NBU to become a financial institution, obtain a certificate of registration with the NBU, and be included in the Register of Financial Institutions. 

Please note! There is not only a Register of Financial Institutions, but also a Register of Leasing Companies. This register contains information about those organizations that will provide exclusively leasing services and may have only a Leasing License. 

You can find an example of registration in the register here.

Stage 3. Obtaining an appropriate Financial License. 

At this stage, it’s important to understand and decide exactly what kind of license you need to get. In this case, our specialists can analyze the type and direction of activities that you want to carry out, and help you obtain the license you need. This way you don’t waste time and money on obtaining a license that is not suitable for your business. 

Find more information about the licensing process here.

Please note! If you want to start a financial company, don’t leave things to chance. In Ukraine, there are many areas and directions, the registration of which is carried out with the same speed as the financial activity - but to get a license of this kind is quite difficult if you do not know the full and accurate algorithm of actions. 

We will make sure that you get the desired result in due time and at the best price.

Find more information about the price of registering a financial institution here