Brokerage group Deriv is in the process of applying for a banking license in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Data on the Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ website shows that the brokerage group has an entity registered in the country called Deriv Bank.
The regulator’s data also shows that the entity is waiting to be approved to receive a banking license in the country.
Deriv has a separate entity registered in the Caribbean country, like many other providers in the industry, which it appears to use for regular brokerage business.
Currently there are only two other international banks regulated in St Vincent and the Grenadines. One is operated by Canadian banking conglomerate RBC. The other is a small firm called MPB Bank.
Deriv’s decision to acquire a local banking license is likely driven by the need for payment and banking solutions.
Particularly for entities regulated outside of tier-1 jurisdictions, banking solutions can become extremely difficult and cumbersome to access.
As a result, we have seen some players in the prop sector and brokerage industry simply acquire banking or Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licenses. The latter tend to be in Canada, where costs are much lower than in Europe.
