Investment license cost comes in three parts: the capital the regulator requires, the fees it charges to apply and every year, and the people, office and audit it expects to see. Below are 20 jurisdictions in each regulator's own figures and currency, by licence type: advice, portfolio and fund management, dealing as agent and dealing as principal. Our own fee is separate and comes in writing after a free assessment.
Updated · Reviewed by the Prifinance team
The first cost line follows the services you apply for. In the EU: €75,000 for order handling, execution, portfolio management, advice or placing without firm commitment when the firm may not hold client money or securities, €750,000 for dealing on own account or firm-commitment underwriting, €150,000 for the rest, an MTF included (IFD art. 9). The UK uses the same three steps in pounds, plus £500,000 for a firm giving targeted support and separate figures for depositaries (MIFIDPRU 4.4.1R). Singapore grades base capital by product and client, Hong Kong by activity and by whether client assets are held.
Each one changes the capital class or a fee line, and often both.
Nine more regulators, from the EU and the Gulf to the US and two offshore centres, each in its own figures and currency.
| Country and regulator | Official fees | Capital, people and decision time |
|---|---|---|
| Luxembourg (CSSF)More details → | €50,000 to file for a new investment firm, then a flat yearly fee by service and class: in class 2, €66,000 for portfolio management, €123,750 for dealing on own account; an AIFM pays €18,000 to apply and €42,000 a year | €75,000 to €750,000 for an investment firm, €125,000 for an external AIFM; decision within 6 months of a complete file |
| Ireland (Central Bank)More details → | The yearly funding levy follows the impact rating the Central Bank assigns: in 2026 from €29,778 for a low-impact investment firm to €2,343,673 for a high-impact one, from €18,908 for an AIFM | €75,000, €150,000 or €750,000; €125,000 or €300,000 for an AIFM, decided in 3 months plus up to 3 |
| Germany (BaFin)More details → | €6,336 to license a firm that neither holds client money nor deals on own account, others billed by time spent; yearly levies from €4,500 or €6,500 for banking-type supervision plus €1,200 for securities supervision | €75,000, €150,000 or €750,000; the banking-supervision minimum rises with the balance sheet; BaFin decides within 6 months |
| Estonia (Finantsinspektsioon)More details → | €3,000 to apply; a yearly supervision fee of 1% of the minimum capital, €750 to €7,500, plus 0.05% to 0.3% of assets at a rate fixed each year | €75,000 to €750,000 by service; in the licence year only the capital part is due, or half of it for a licence granted from July; a decision within 2 months of a complete file, 6 months from filing at most |
| Lithuania (Bank of Lithuania)More details → | €947 state levy paid before the application is filed | €75,000, €150,000 or €750,000 for a financial brokerage firm; decision within 6 months of the last document |
| Abu Dhabi (ADGM, FSRA)More details → | The FSRA's Getting Started Guide (May 2025) gives US$25,000 to apply and US$25,000 a year to manage assets or deal as agent, US$40,000 and US$50,000 as principal, US$15,000 each to advise or arrange, US$10,000 each to manage only a fund | Base capital US$250,000 to manage assets (US$150,000 or US$50,000 to manage only funds), US$500,000 to deal as agent, US$2 million as principal; senior executive officer, compliance officer and MLRO resident in the UAE; the FSRA guide gives no decision time |
| United States (SEC, FINRA)More details → | FINRA charges US$7,500 to US$55,000 to apply, by firm size and number of registered persons, plus US$5,000 for a firm that clears and carries accounts | Net capital from US$5,000 for a firm that never handles client funds to US$250,000 for a carrying firm; the SEC grants registration or opens proceedings within 45 days of filing |
| Labuan (Labuan FSA)More details → | US$500 to apply; each year US$2,500 for a securities licensee or US$3,000 for a fund manager, plus US$1,000 for the Labuan company itself | RM150,000 of paid-up capital for a securities licensee and a registered office in Labuan; 30 working days, or 15 on the fast track for US$1,500 |
| British Virgin Islands (FSC)More details → | Approved manager: US$1,200 to apply, US$1,800 on approval and US$1,800 a year; a dealing licence costs US$2,200 to apply, then US$3,300 on grant and every year, per sub-category | Capital set case by case for a licensee; an approved manager that files 7 days ahead may run its business for up to 30 days, extendable by 30, while the FSC reviews it; above $400 million in open-ended funds, or the separate limit for closed-ended ones, it has 3 months to fall back, apply for a licence or get FSC consent |
Investor compensation schemes, audit and local staff come on top of these lines; the cost drivers below show where each rule sits.
Country by country: regulator, licence type, capital, timelines and tax.
Which licence fits which service, what the regulator checks and the steps from business plan to authorisation.
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.
The licence type sets the capital class almost everywhere; the fees are where regulators differ most. Each row puts one kind of business side by side across several regulators; Abu Dhabi fees are as the FSRA guide of May 2025 gives them.
| Licence type | Capital | Official fees and time |
|---|---|---|
| Advice or arranging, no client money | €75,000 under the IFD, £75,000 under MIFIDPRU; a Hong Kong adviser with no client assets needs no paid-up capital and HK$100,000 of liquid capital | US$15,000 to apply and US$15,000 a year in Abu Dhabi; US$2,000 and US$5,000 a year for a Seychelles investment advisor; US$600 to apply in Mauritius; 6 months in the EU |
| Portfolio or fund management | €75,000 for an EU portfolio manager without client money, €125,000 for an external AIFM; CHF 100,000 or CHF 200,000 in Switzerland; S$250,000 to S$1 million in Singapore; US$250,000 in Abu Dhabi to manage assets, US$150,000 or US$50,000 to manage only funds | AIFM at the CSSF: €18,000 and €42,000 a year; FINMA CHF 2,000 to 50,000; MAS S$1,000 and from S$4,000 a year; Abu Dhabi US$25,000 to apply and US$25,000 a year to manage assets, US$10,000 and US$10,000 to manage a fund |
| Dealing as agent | €75,000 in the EU, or €150,000 with client money, and the same steps in pounds in the UK; US$500,000 in Abu Dhabi; S$500,000 for a Singapore broker that books no client positions, S$50,000 if it also holds no client money and serves only accredited, expert or institutional investors; HK$5 million paid up and HK$3 million liquid for Type 1 in Hong Kong, HK$500,000 liquid for an approved introducing agent; US$50,000 of net capital for a US introducing broker | €7,250 to apply in Malta in 2026 for agency services with client money; US$2,200, then US$3,300 on grant and yearly in the BVI; HK$4,740 per activity in Hong Kong, about 15 weeks |
| Dealing on own account or underwriting | €750,000 under the IFD and £750,000 under MIFIDPRU; US$2 million in Abu Dhabi; S$1 million to S$5 million for a Singapore dealer, by product, clients and clearing; US$100,000 of net capital for a US dealer | CSSF €50,000, then €123,750 a year; Malta €15,000 to apply in 2026; CySEC €10,000 fixed a year plus turnover; Abu Dhabi US$40,000 and US$50,000 a year; FCA £8,922.80 a year per trader above the first |
| Offshore securities dealer | US$100,000 in Seychelles, MUR 1,000,000 in Mauritius, RM150,000 in Labuan; the higher of $100,000 or a quarter of yearly spending in Cayman; case by case in the BVI | Seychelles US$3,000 and US$6,000 a year; Mauritius US$1,000 and US$3,400 a year plus the Global Business Licence; Labuan US$500 and US$2,500 a year; 30 working days in Seychelles and Labuan, 6 to 8 weeks in Cayman |
| Registration or light approval instead of a licence | In the EU, registration instead of a licence up to €100 million under management, or €500 million unleveraged and locked for 5 years; a BVI approved manager stays under $400 million in open-ended funds, closed-ended funds counted separately | CSSF €7,200 once and €10,000 a year; a Cayman registered person, defined by its clients or an overseas regulator rather than by size, CI$6,000 on registration and yearly; a BVI approved manager US$1,200, US$1,800 and US$1,800 a year, in business for up to 30 days from a filing made 7 days ahead |
Each line is a written rule in at least one jurisdiction on this page, and each costs money even when the regulator never sends an invoice for it.
The laws, fee rules and regulator pages behind each figure, grouped by jurisdiction.
Fees, capital and deadlines as in force on 4 November 2026; Abu Dhabi fees as the FSRA Getting Started Guide of May 2025 gives them. Where a regulator publishes a new schedule, its own text prevails.
We set out the licence, the capital, every official fee and our own fee in writing. Nothing is paid to a regulator yet.
The capital goes in before or soon after the licence, as the rules say: before issue for a domestic dealer in Mauritius, in cash in Switzerland. A Labuan company adds US$1,000 a year.
Key people carry fees of their own: in Hong Kong HK$2,950 per activity for each responsible officer and HK$1,790 per activity for each licensed representative, US$500 per representative in Seychelles, S$200 per representative at MAS.
Paid with the file: S$1,000 at MAS, A$7,537 at ASIC for a high-complexity retail licence, €3,000 in Estonia, €7,000 at CySEC, €50,000 at the CSSF. CySEC counts a file without its fee as not submitted, and the CSSF does not start work until it is paid.
Some regulators charge again when they say yes: CI$10,000 in Cayman, US$3,300 for each BVI dealing sub-category, the first yearly fee in Seychelles, a pro rata first year in Cyprus and Malta.
Yearly fees then follow each regulator's calendar; in the BVI they are due by 31 March. Some rise on a schedule: a Maltese own-account dealer's minimum supervisory fee goes from €17,500 in 2026 to €20,000 in 2027.
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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Three things set it: the services, the clients and the regulator. Capital runs from nothing for a Singapore venture capital manager to €750,000 for an EU own-account dealer and S$5 million for a Singapore clearing member. To apply: S$1,000 at MAS, £11,260 at the FCA for most MiFID investment managers, €7,000 at CySEC, €50,000 at the CSSF, and yearly fees follow. Our fee is quoted in writing after a free assessment.
Capital that stays in the company, approved people, an office where the rules want one, compliance and AML staff, the auditor and sometimes insurance. MAS wants a resident CEO and two full-time Singapore-based people for each regulated activity, three for a retail fund manager; ADGM wants the senior executive officer, compliance officer and MLRO resident in the UAE. No regulator invoices these lines, so we list them next to the official fees.
On fees, a Mauritius discount broker: MUR 2,500 to apply as a domestic company, US$300 as a global business company, plus US$600 for its Global Business Licence. Labuan asks US$500, Lithuania a €947 state levy. On capital, a Singapore venture capital manager needs none, and a US broker-dealer that never handles client funds US$5,000. The cheapest licence is the one that fits your services and clients, since the wrong one means applying again.
IFD art. 9 sets three classes: €75,000 for advice, order handling, execution, portfolio management or placing without firm commitment, without client money; €750,000 for dealing on own account or firm-commitment underwriting; €150,000 for other investment firms, an MTF included. An external AIFM needs €125,000 and an internally managed fund €300,000, plus 0.02% of portfolios above €250 million, capped at €10 million. The UK uses the same classes in pounds, plus a £500,000 step for targeted support (MIFIDPRU 4.4.1R), and depositaries have figures of their own.
To apply: €7,000 at CySEC for services 1 to 7, €15,000 at the MFSA in 2026 for an own-account dealer with client money, £11,260 at the FCA for most MiFID investment managers, S$1,000 at MAS, HK$4,740 per activity at the SFC, A$7,537 online at ASIC for a retail licence of high complexity. The DFSA in Dubai gives a range of US$15,000 to US$70,000, by service. Yearly fees start at £2,200 at the FCA and S$2,000 at MAS (S$4,000 for securities dealing or fund management).
A fixed fee, a fee that grows with the business, or both. Fixed: CI$10,000 in Cayman, US$6,000 for a Seychelles dealer, US$3,400 plus US$2,600 for the Global Business Licence in Mauritius, €42,000 for a Luxembourg AIFM. Growing: Estonia's share of assets, Ireland's levy from €29,778 by impact rating, ASIC's levy by turnover. Cyprus mixes both, from €6,500 plus turnover, capped at €150,000.
Seychelles: US$3,000 to apply, US$6,000 a year, US$100,000 of capital in a bank account. Mauritius: US$1,000 and US$3,400 a year as a global business company, plus the Global Business Licence and MUR 1,000,000 of capital. Labuan: US$500, US$2,500 a year and RM150,000. Cayman: CI$1,000, then CI$10,000 on grant and yearly. The BVI: US$2,200, then US$3,300 on grant and yearly, capital case by case.
Yes, because rent, salaries and capital are committed before the licence arrives. Since October 2024 the FSC in Mauritius must grant a file within 10 working days of finding it complete, though the completeness check has no deadline; the SEC must act within 45 days of filing. Labuan and Seychelles work to 30 working days, and Labuan sells a 15-working-day fast track for US$1,500. The SFC takes about 15 weeks, EU regulators and MAS up to 6 months. The FCA may take 12 months over an incomplete file, so a complete file is the cheapest way to save time.
It can save time, not the regulator's checks: the buyer is approved as a new owner. Seychelles requires prior approval of any share transfer in a licensee and charges US$500 for it; in Mauritius the FSC approves any issue or transfer of shares in a licensee, except notified ones under 5% or to existing shareholders that leave control unchanged. Capital, staff and yearly fees carry on, and so does any past breach. We compare both routes in the free assessment.
Yes. After the free assessment we put our fixed fee for the work in writing, next to the official fees, the capital and the yearly costs of your route. Every official figure here comes from a regulator's own schedule or law, linked below, so each line can be checked before you sign.
Tell us which services you plan, who your clients are and where they live. Our legal team replies in writing with the licence that fits, its capital, the official fees and our fixed fee for the work.
