Forex license in Andorra: AFA licence for a financial investment company.

Yes, through the AFA, though not under a forex label. Andorran law counts currency derivatives and CFDs among financial instruments, and the AFA authorises the creation of a financial investment entity whose authorisation names its services, dealing on own account among them. The SFI register held one firm on 24 October 2026, authorised in 1988.

A societat financera d'inversió, one of the four financial investment entity types in the AFA's guide, next to the AFI, the SGP and the financial adviser. It is an Andorran societat anònima, and its €200,000 prior deposit is the highest of the four. We build a CFD market maker as an SFI.

Up to 12 months for the AFA's decision under Art. 5(3) of Law 35/2010, with prior authorisation due within six months of filing or of the file's completion (Art. 5(1)). The authorised SFI then has 12 months to start business or loses the authorisation (Art. 9(1)). We plan for 12-15 months from filing to the start of business.

In Andorra an SFI's promoters lodge a €200,000 deposit with the AFA before filing, interest-free and returned once business starts, and pay the €15,117 creation fee for 2026. AFA supervision fees then run per service, €6,301 a year for a five-service market maker. The minimum capital of Law 7/2013, the process fees and our fees are confirmed in the quote.

Yes. Law 35/2010 lists Andorran or foreign participation in the capital and the board among the points the AFA assesses (Art. 20(1)(a)). Foreign direct investment needs the Government's prior authorisation, and where a third-country financial firm will control the SFI, the AFA first obtains its home supervisor's non-objection (Art. 17(8)).

Local hiring is one of the AFA's criteria. Art. 20(1)(c) of Law 35/2010 looks at the number and qualification of the jobs created and at how many go to Andorrans or to foreigners resident for at least three years. Residence rules for directors and a minimum headcount are confirmed with the AFA per case.

Andorran law names no leverage cap, close-out level or negative balance rule for CFDs, and the ESMA measures end at the EEA border. Conduct rules are in Law 7/2024 on the organisation and functioning of financial entities and market abuse; the terms of a retail CFD offer are confirmed with the AFA before launch.

Only as far as each country's own rules allow. Andorra is outside the EU and the EEA, so an SFI has no MiFID passport. Spain, next door, has banned CFD advertising to its retail investors on every medium since 3 August 2023, and that ban binds every firm marketing there.

Spain, for a broker that needs EU clients: a sociedad de valores at €750,000 passports into the other 29 EEA states, the CNMV decides within six months and its €10,000 fee falls due only on grant, though CFD advertising to Spanish retail investors is banned. Andorra offers 10% tax against Spain's 25%, with no passport.

Our Andorra la Vella office builds the single AFA submission around the entity type you choose, SFI or AFI: form 2, the programme of activities with its answers on the Andorran economy and sponsorship, and the memòria with a three-year business plan. The hiring plan the AFA reads against Art. 20(1)(c) goes into the same file.