Nikolai Timofejev
15 years in FinTech and payments. Maps your business model to the right licence scope and leads the file all the way to the SERC decision, including banking and payment rails.
Get an investment license in Cambodia.
A frontier market with due process written into the statute: no person may conduct securities business as a securities firm without a licence from the regulator's director general, and the law forbids refusing an applicant without first giving written reasons and an opportunity to be heard.
27 yrs
on the international marketon the market
60+
in-house specialistsspecialists
400+
Licenses obtainedlicenses obtained
Updated
Cambodia in brief
Small market, codified process, dollarised economy.
Cambodia regulates securities under the Law on the Issuance and Trading of Non-Government Securities, administered by the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia. The rule is categorical: no person may conduct a securities business, or hold themselves out as doing so in the form of a securities firm, without a licence from the regulator's director general - with narrow exemptions prescribed by sub-decree. Applications are lodged in prescribed form with the fee, the director general may demand further information, and a licence is granted where the applicant meets the requirements the regulator prescribes. Those detailed requirements - capital, personnel, systems - sit in the regulator's prakas and are confirmed against the instruments in force at filing rather than assumed.
What is unusual for a frontier jurisdiction is the procedural protection written into the law itself: the director general may not refuse an application without first giving the applicant reasons in writing and an opportunity to be heard. That is a real safeguard, and it changes how a file is built - arguments matter, because there is a forum for them. The regulator supervises securities companies, their representatives, investment advisers, securities dealers and brokers, and fund managers through a dedicated intermediaries-supervision department. Add a dollarised economy, a young exchange and one of Asia's fastest-growing markets, and Cambodia becomes a genuine frontier position for firms with regional ambition. We build the file end to end.
Frontier with due process: no securities business as a securities firm without a licence from the regulator's director general - applications in prescribed form with fee, further information on demand, and requirements set by the regulator's instruments.
The law forbids refusal without written reasons and a hearing. Securities companies, representatives, advisers, dealers, brokers and fund managers are all supervised. Dollarised economy, fast growth.
The two builds
The securities firm - and the people inside it.
The regulator licenses the company and the individuals who act for it. Both files are prepared together, against requirements read from the instruments in force.
The licensed securities firm, and its licensed representatives.
01 - SECURITIES FIRM
The licensed company
A securities firm licensed by the director general. With the activity set (advisory, dealing, broking, fund management) and its prescribed requirements confirmed against the regulator's instruments at filing.
A securities firm licensed by the director general. With the activity set (advisory, dealing, broking, fund management) and its prescribed requirements confirmed against the regulator's instruments at filing.
- ✓Securities company licence
- ✓Advisory, dealing or broking scope
- ✓Fund management where applicable
- ✓Requirements per regulator's prakas
- ✓Application in prescribed form + fee
- ✓Written reasons before any refusal
02 - REPRESENTATIVES
The licensed individuals
Representatives of securities companies and other market participants are licensed in their own right. The individual layer the regulator supervises alongside the firm.
Representatives, advisers, dealers, brokers and fund managers licensed individually and supervised by a dedicated department. Filed alongside the corporate application.
- ✓Representatives of securities companies
- ✓Investment advisers
- ✓Securities dealers and brokers
- ✓Fund managers
- ✓Supervised by a dedicated department
- ✓Filed alongside the corporate application
Detailed capital, personnel and systems requirements are prescribed by the regulator and confirmed against the instruments in force at filing rather than quoted from summaries.
Why Cambodia
Six reasons firms look at Phnom Penh.
✓
Due process in the statute
The law forbids refusal without written reasons and a hearing. A procedural right most frontier regimes do not grant.Reasons and a hearing.
✓
A dollarised economy
The US dollar circulates alongside the riel. Currency risk inside the operating business is materially reduced.Less currency risk.
✓
Frontier growth
One of Asia's fastest-growing economies with a young exchange. Early positions are still available.Early positions open.
✓
A defined perimeter
The law names what needs licensing and who supervises it. The boundary is legible rather than improvised.The law names it.
✓
ASEAN adjacency
Regional integration, Chinese and Southeast Asian capital flows, and proximity to Singapore and Bangkok.Regional flows.
✓
Cost structure
Operating and staffing costs among the lowest in the region. Substance is genuinely affordable.Substance affordable.
How it compares
How Cambodia differs from other routes.
Numbers next to numbers: a real frontier licence with procedural protections. In a market still being built.
Cambodia vs other jurisdictions
| Feature |  Cambodia | Other jurisdictions |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | Non-Government Securities Law | Mature securities acts |
| Requirements | Prescribed by the regulator | Published tiers |
| Due process | Reasons + hearing in law | Varies |
| Market | Frontier, growing fast | Established |
Regime
CambodiaNon-Government Securities Law
Other jurisdictionsMature securities acts
Requirements
CambodiaPrescribed by the regulator
Other jurisdictionsPublished tiers
Due process
CambodiaReasons + hearing in law
Other jurisdictionsVaries
Market
CambodiaFrontier, growing fast
Other jurisdictionsEstablished
Country by country
| Country | License type | Taxation | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cambodia | Securities firm - SERC | 20% standard corporate | As prescribed by SERC |
 Labuan | Securities licensee - LFSA | 3% audited profits | RM1M intermediary |
 Singapore | MAS CMS licence | 17% + incentives | S$1M-S$5M base capital |
 Hong Kong | SFC Types 9/4/1 | 8.25%/16.5% · no CGT | HK$100k-HK$5M by model |
CambodiaLicense typeSecurities firm - SERC
Taxation20% standard corporate
RequirementsAs prescribed by SERC
LabuanLicense typeSecurities licensee - LFSA
Taxation3% audited profits
RequirementsRM1M intermediary
SingaporeLicense typeMAS CMS licence
Taxation17% + incentives
RequirementsS$1M-S$5M base capital
Hong KongLicense typeSFC Types 9/4/1
Taxation8.25%/16.5% · no CGT
RequirementsHK$100k-HK$5M by model
Before you apply
Requirements for the Cambodian licence.Requirements for the licence.
The law sets the frame; the regulator sets the detail. The checklist below is what a passing project covers.
01
Cambodian company. Established for the licensed securities activities.
02
Activity scope. Advisory, dealing, broking or fund management, chosen before filing.
03
Prescribed requirements. Capital, personnel and systems read from the regulator's instruments in force.
04
Application in prescribed form. Lodged with the required fee.
05
Fit-and-proper founders and directors. Vetted to ultimate-owner level.
06
Licensed representatives. The individuals acting for the firm, licensed in their own right.
07
Business plan. Strategy, clientele and projections the regulator can test.
08
Organisation. Compliance, risk and internal control functions established.
09
Client-asset arrangements. Segregation where the activity touches client money or securities.
10
AML/CFT programme. Cambodian framework with a named responsible officer.
11
Readiness to respond. The director general may require further information at any point in the process.
01
Cambodian company formed.
02
Activity scope chosen.
03
Prescribed requirements read.
04
Prescribed form + fee.
05
Founders vetted to UBO.
06
Representatives licensed.
07
Testable business plan.
08
Control functions built.
09
Client assets segregated.
10
AML officer named.
11
Ready for further requests.
Reflects the Law on the Issuance and Trading of Non-Government Securities as of 2026. Detailed requirements are prescribed by the regulator and verified at filing.Non-Government Securities Law + regulator's instruments, 2026.
How it works
From first call to the SERC licence.
01
Scope and instruments
Activities chosen and the prescribed requirements read from the instruments actually in force.Current text read.
02
Company and people
Cambodian entity established, founders vetted, representatives identified for licensing.Reps identified.
03
The application
Lodged in prescribed form with the fee. Complete enough to withstand requests for further information.Form and fee lodged.
04
Review and dialogue
Further information supplied as required; where issues arise, the statutory right to reasons and a hearing is used.Rights used if needed.
05
Licence and launch
Licence granted, representatives licensed, banking live. The firm operating in Phnom Penh.Operating locally.
Quick facts
RegulatorSERC
FrameworkNon-Government Securities Law
Licence granted byDirector general
ApplicationPrescribed form + fee
RequirementsPrescribed by the regulator
Further informationMay be required
Refusal safeguardReasons + hearing
CurrencyDollarised economy
The statutory right to written reasons and a hearing before refusal is genuinely unusual at this market stage, and it means a well-argued file has somewhere to be argued.
On the ground in Cambodia
Run from our Phnom Penh office.
Prifinance - Cambodia
Phnom Penh · Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
01
Scope and instruments
The activity set chosen and the prescribed requirements read from the regulator's current instruments, not from secondary summaries.Read, not assumed.
02
The SERC file
Application in prescribed form with plan, organisation and evidence. Built to survive requests for further information.Built to withstand.
03
Representatives
The individuals licensed alongside the company, so the firm can actually operate on grant.Licensed together.
04
Launch and banking
Accounts and operations established in a dollarised economy. The practical layer handled locally.Banking handled.
We also have offices in
Tallinn
Estonia
Roseni 13
Vilnius
Lithuania
Gedimino pr. 2
Prague
Czech Republic
Vlkova 532/8, Žižkov
Dubai
UAE
33 Level, Al Saqr Business Tower
London
United Kingdom
7 Bell Yard
Madeira
Portugal
Rua da Alegria 31, 1F
Istanbul
Turkey
Perpa Ticaret Merkezi, A Blok
Good to know
Taxation of investment firms in Cambodia.
A conventional corporate regime in a dollarised economy. Modelled per structure before commitment.
Standard corporate tax
Cambodia applies a headline corporate income tax to resident companies. Confirmed against the current rate at structuring.Standard headline.
Withholding on outbound
Payments to non-residents carry withholding by payment type, reduced under Cambodia's growing treaty network.By payment type.
Value added tax
VAT applies with treatment for financial services per the published rules. Mapped to actual revenue lines.Per published rules.
Dollarisation
With the US dollar circulating widely, currency translation risk inside the operating business is materially lower.Translation risk down.
Investment incentives
The Kingdom operates qualified investment project incentives. Examined where the group's activity qualifies.Where eligible.
Low operating cost
Staffing and premises among the region's cheapest. The operating economics, not the rate, drive the model.Drives the model.
Tax summary
Corporate taxStandard headline rate
WithholdingBy payment type · treaty relief
VATPer published treatment
CurrencyDollarised economy
IncentivesQIP regime where eligible
*Position as of 2026. Rates, VAT treatment and incentive eligibility are confirmed with local advisers per structure.
Turnkey professional support
Experienced lawyers and international consultants.
We provide end-to-end support, from company registration and the application file to regulatory interaction and compliance oversight - with an individualized approach to each client.
Oleksii Kindratenko
Builds the application itself: Cambodian company, AML/KYC policy pack, capital structure and tax registrations. His document sets are the reason reviews finish in months, not years.
Eugeniu Bevziuc
First point of contact for international founders. Runs the whole setup remotely, across time zones and languages - from the first call to a live, licensed securities firm.
Follow Prifinance
Active across our channels.
Cambodia · SERC
Launch your investment firm in Cambodia with expert support.
Full-service assistance - from scope design and instrument review to SERC licensing and representative applications - run through our Phnom Penh office.
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Is Cambodia the right fit for your project?
Our legal team will analyze your case at no cost and provide a written legal opinion: which jurisdiction, licence scope, or route fits your business.
Written assessment within 2-5 business days
Request a free conclusion →FAQ
The Cambodian investment licence: the practical answers.
What licence does an investment firm need in Cambodia?+
A licence from the director general of the securities regulator under the Law on the Issuance and Trading of Non-Government Securities. No person may conduct a securities business, or hold themselves out as conducting one in the form of a securities firm, without it.
Who else must be licensed?+
The regulator licenses and supervises securities companies, their representatives, investment advisers, securities dealers, securities brokers and fund managers - the individual layer alongside the corporate one.
What capital is required?+
The law itself does not fix capital; it requires applicants to meet the requirements prescribed by the regulator. Those instruments are read at filing rather than quoted from summaries, because they change and because getting them wrong costs a cycle.
How does the application work?+
It is lodged in the prescribed form with the required fee. The director general may require further information as considered necessary, and grants the licence where satisfied the applicant meets the prescribed requirements - with conditions and activity restrictions possible.
What happens if the regulator is minded to refuse?+
The law is explicit: the director general shall not refuse an application without first giving the applicant reasons in writing and an opportunity to be heard. That is a genuine procedural right, and a well-prepared file can use it.
Is Cambodia dollarised?+
Substantially - the US dollar circulates alongside the riel, which materially reduces currency translation risk inside an operating financial business.
How long does licensing take?+
Realistically 6-12 months including preparation, driven by how completely the prescribed requirements are met at lodgement and how quickly further information is supplied.
How are Cambodian firms taxed?+
A standard corporate income tax applies, with withholding on outbound payments by type, VAT per published treatment and investment-project incentives where the activity qualifies. We confirm current rates with local advisers per structure.
Is this a serious jurisdiction or a frontier gamble?+
It is a genuine frontier market with a real statute, a named regulator and procedural safeguards - small, young and growing. We would not recommend it for EU or US client bases; we would consider it for regional ambition.
Why Prifinance for Cambodia?+
Requirements read from the instruments in force rather than from summaries, representatives licensed alongside the company, and files built to withstand requests for further information - from our Phnom Penh office.
What licence?+
Securities firm - SERC.
Who else?+
Reps, advisers, managers.
Capital?+
Prescribed; read at filing.
Process?+
Form, fee, more info.
If refused?+
Reasons and a hearing.
Dollarised?+
Substantially, yes.
How long?+
6-12 months realistic.
Taxes?+
Standard + withholding.
Serious?+
Frontier, but real.
Why you?+
Instruments read first.
Client notes
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Prifinance is an independent law and advisory firm. We are not a regulator and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of SERC or any other public authority. Authorisations are granted by, and obtained directly from, the competent authorities.