How to get an investment license starts with the services you will offer: regulators license them one by one, each with its own capital tier. Then come the company, the people approved by name, the file and a decision clock set by law or by the regulator itself. Below: 10 licensing routes, the licence types by service, the eight requirements regulators check and the six steps of an application, each figure tied to its rule.
Updated · Reviewed by the Prifinance team
MiFID II art. 5(1) makes investment services provided as a business subject to prior authorisation, and the authorisation lists the services it covers. Advice, reception and transmission of orders, execution, dealing on own account and portfolio management are separate services; managing funds falls under AIFMD or the UCITS Directive. Outside the EU the labels change: Hong Kong licenses numbered regulated activities, Singapore stacks activities on one capital markets services licence.
The answers fix the licence and the capital tier, so we take them first.
A regulator licenses services, and the capital depends on which ones you take. Each row pairs a service with the licence that covers it in the EU, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong.
| Service | Licence it needs: EU, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong | Capital class |
|---|---|---|
| Investment advice | EU: MiFID II investment firm. UK: Part 4A permission. Singapore: financial adviser's licence under the Financial Advisers Act 2001. Hong Kong: Type 4 | €75,000 / £75,000 without client money; SGD 500,000, or SGD 300,000 plus SGD 500,000 of extra indemnity cover (MAS entry requirement); HK$100,000 liquid if no client assets are held |
| Reception and transmission of orders | EU, UK: investment firm. Singapore: CMS dealing licence, introducing model. Hong Kong: Type 1 as an approved introducing agent | €75,000 / £75,000 without client money; SGD 500,000; HK$500,000 liquid, no paid-up minimum |
| Execution of client orders | EU, UK: investment firm. Singapore: CMS dealing licence. Hong Kong: Type 1 | €75,000 / £75,000 without client money, €150,000 / £150,000 with it; SGD 1 million; HK$5 million paid-up |
| Dealing on own account | EU, UK: investment firm with own-account permission. Singapore: CMS dealing licence. Hong Kong: Type 1, Type 2 for futures | €750,000 / £750,000; SGD 5 million for retail OTC derivatives; HK$5 million paid-up, HK$10 million with margin financing |
| Portfolio management | EU, UK: investment firm. Singapore: CMS licence for fund management. Hong Kong: Type 9 | €75,000 / £75,000 without client money; SGD 250,000 for accredited and institutional clients, SGD 500,000 for retail mandates; HK$100,000 liquid without client assets |
| Fund management (AIF, UCITS) | EU: AIFM or UCITS management company. UK: full-scope UK AIFM or UCITS management company. Singapore: licensed fund management company. Hong Kong: Type 9 | €125,000, or €300,000 for a self-managed fund; SGD 1 million for retail funds; HK$5 million paid-up with client assets |
| Custody and client money | EU: safekeeping, an ancillary service licensed only with an investment service. UK: permission for client money and assets. Singapore: CMS licence for custodial services. Hong Kong: Types 1, 4, 9 holding client assets | €150,000 / £150,000; SGD 1 million; HK$5 million paid-up, HK$3 million liquid |
Several services on one licence take the highest tier, not the sum: Singapore applies the highest base capital among the activities licensed, Hong Kong the highest single amount (Cap. 571N s. 5(f)).
Country by country: regulator, licence type, capital, timelines and tax.
What the regulators charge to apply and each year, the capital they require and how long a decision takes.
Portfolio manager, AIFM and fund manager licences: capital, fees, thresholds and timelines by jurisdiction.
Dealing licences from the SEC and the SFC to the offshore securities dealer: capital, fees, people and timelines.
What the buyer acquires, when the regulator must approve a change of control, the thresholds, filing times and fees.
Places 1 to 19 by business model, with the capital, official fees and decision times behind each place.
What the law allows for the decision, or what the regulator itself publishes. Most clocks start when the file is accepted as complete.
| Regime | Decision clock | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| EU investment firm | 6 months from a complete application. Estonia: 2 months from the last document, 6 at most from filing. The Netherlands: 13 weeks from receipt, 6 months at most | MiFID II art. 7(3); Estonian Securities Market Act § 55¹(3); Dutch Wft arts 1:102-1:103 |
| EU fund manager | AIFM: 3 months from a complete application, plus up to 3. UCITS management company: 6 months | AIFMD art. 8(5); UCITS Directive art. 7(3) |
| United Kingdom, Liechtenstein | FCA: 6 months from a completed application, 12 from receipt if incomplete. FMA: 6 months at the latest | FSMA 2000 s. 55V; VVG art. 6(3) |
| Singapore, Hong Kong | MAS: up to 6 months on a complete file. SFC: normally about 15 weeks for a corporation, 8 for a representative | Regulators' published expectations, not statute |
| United States | SEC: 45 days from filing to register or open proceedings. FINRA: after 180 days without a decision, the applicant may ask its Board to direct one | Exchange Act s. 15(b)(1); FINRA Rule 1014(c)(3) |
| Australia | Target: 70% of complete applications decided within 150 days, 90% within 240 | ASIC Service Charter, not statute |
Forms and order differ from regulator to regulator. The substance repeats, and each point names a rule that sets it.
The laws, rulebooks, fee rules and regulator pages behind each figure on this page.
Laws and rules as in force on 4 November 2026. If a regulator amends a figure, the text it publishes prevails over this page.
List each service and client type, then read off the licence and the capital tier. In the EU an AIF manager with no more than €100 million, leverage included, or €500 million unleveraged and locked for 5 years, registers instead (AIFMD art. 3).
Form the company where the licence will sit, pay in the capital and hire the people the regulator approves: directors, a chief executive, responsible officers, a compliance officer, an MLRO. A Swiss firm enters the commercial register only after the licence.
Programme of operations and projections, policies for compliance, risk, AML and client assets, outsourcing contracts, fit and proper forms for each person in charge, proof of paid-in capital.
The fee goes in with the file, and CySEC treats an application without it as not submitted. Completeness checks follow: 25 working days at Latvijas Banka, 15 at the Bulgarian FSC. FINRA keeps US$500 of its fee if it rejects a file as not substantially complete.
Written questions and interviews, then the decision within the clock. FINRA decides within 30 days of the membership interview or of the last documents it asked for, whichever is later, and MAS first gives an approval in principle whose conditions must be met before the licence.
A UCITS management company may start business once authorised (UCITS Directive art. 7(4)). Others meet the last conditions, join the investor compensation scheme and pay the first fees; Malta's first supervisory fee is due on the day of the grant.
The investment licensing market is full of intermediaries selling flags by the unit, several of which are not licences at all. We are a legal and advisory firm: we tell you what a route actually buys, build the file the supervisor examines, and stay on it after authorisation.
60+ specialists work on applications directly. Lawyers, compliance and audit people, not an outsourcing chain of resellers.
Before you pay anyone, you get a written view of which investors the licence reaches, where its perimeter runs, and whether it exists in the jurisdiction you were quoted.
The quote you approve is the price you pay. Government, regulator, audit and registry fees are stated separately and upfront.
Programmes of operations, governance and risk frameworks, conduct and client-asset arrangements and AML/CFT packs drafted to the standards the authority actually examines.
Passporting notifications, prudential and conduct reporting, substance and audit calendars, renewals, and the upgrade path when a firm outgrows the approval it started on.
15 years in FinTech and payments. Maps your service set to the right licence scope and leads the file to the supervisor's decision, including banking, custody and distribution arrangements.
Builds the application itself: the local company, the programme of operations, AML/KYC policy pack, capital structure and tax registrations. His document sets are the reason reviews finish in months, not years.
First point of contact for international founders. Runs the whole setup remotely, across time zones and languages - from the first call to a live, authorised investment firm.
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The authorisation a financial regulator grants before a company provides investment services to clients as a business. In the EU it is required by MiFID II art. 5(1); in Switzerland portfolio managers, managers of collective assets and fund management companies need a FINMA licence (FinIA art. 5(1)). A US broker-dealer registers with the SEC and joins a self-regulatory organisation such as FINRA before doing business. The licence lists each service the firm may provide.
Start with the list of services: it decides the licence and the capital. Then form the local company, pay in the capital, appoint the people the regulator approves by name, write the programme of operations and policies, file with the fee and answer questions until the regulator decides. An EU regulator has 6 months from a complete application (MiFID II art. 7(3)). Everything before filing runs on your timetable, so we begin with a written plan.
They follow the services. EU law separates advice, reception and transmission of orders, execution, dealing on own account and portfolio management on one investment firm licence, and licenses fund managers under AIFMD or the UCITS Directive. Hong Kong numbers them: Type 1 dealing in securities, Type 4 advising on securities, Type 9 asset management. Switzerland has portfolio managers, managers of collective assets and fund management companies, at CHF 100,000, CHF 200,000 and CHF 1 million of capital.
In substance, eight: a programme of operations, capital paid in and kept, a management body that passes fit and proper, owners the regulator can see through, named functions with compliance, risk and AML controls, outsourcing and IT under control, and real presence where the licence is issued. Local rules add detail: MAS insists on a CEO resident in Singapore, and the SFC on two responsible officers for every regulated activity.
The regulator's share is set by law or by a figure the regulator publishes. MiFID II allows 6 months from a complete application, AIFMD 3 months plus up to 3 for an AIF manager, FSMA 6 months from a completed application. MAS puts its review at up to 6 months, an SFC licence for a corporation normally takes about 15 weeks, CIMA policy gives 6 to 8 weeks for a securities licence, and ASIC targets a decision on 70% of complete applications within 150 days. Most of these clocks start with a complete file, but the FSMA limit of 12 months for an incomplete application runs from the day it is received.
In the EU €75,000 for advice, orders or portfolio management if the firm never holds client money or securities, €150,000 if it does and €750,000 for dealing on own account or underwriting (IFD art. 9); the UK uses the same figures in pounds. Fund managers start at €125,000. A Swiss portfolio manager needs CHF 100,000, a Singapore fund manager for accredited and institutional investors SGD 250,000, a Hong Kong Type 9 firm without client assets HK$100,000 of liquid capital, kept at all times.
Usually at least two people, with residence rules that vary. EU fund managers need two who work full time for the firm and are domiciled in the Union (AIFMD art. 8(1)(c), since 16 April 2026). Liechtenstein wants two managing directors at the seat, one a Liechtenstein, EEA or Swiss citizen with three years' full-time experience. Singapore requires a resident CEO and a resident director.
The core repeats: programme of operations with projections, constitution and ownership chart, fit and proper forms and CVs for directors and senior staff, compliance, risk and AML manuals, outsourcing contracts and proof of paid-in capital. Each regulator then adds its own: FINRA a fingerprint card for each associated person subject to SEA Rule 17f-2, the SFC two proposed responsible officers, FINMA a supervisory organisation's confirmation for a portfolio manager.
Within the EEA, yes. A MiFID II investment firm can passport the services its licence covers to other member states after notifying its home regulator (MiFID II art. 34), a UCITS management company's authorisation is valid for all member states (UCITS Directive art. 6(1)), and a Liechtenstein asset management licence holds across the EEA (VVG art. 6). Elsewhere the law of each client's country decides whether a foreign licence is enough, and we check it country by country.
Supervision fees start and the conditions stay. MAS charges a fund manager SGD 4,000 a year, plus SGD 5 for each representative above 100, and the SFC HK$4,740 a year per regulated activity. Capital stays at the licensed level, and a new service goes to the regulator before it starts. We set up that calendar with you at launch.
Tell us which services you plan to offer, to which clients and from which country. Our legal team replies in writing with the licence type, the regulator, the capital, the clocks that apply and our fixed fee.
