The Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia supervises the Serbian capital market: investment firms, the exchange, investment funds, market abuse and disclosure. The Securities and Exchange Commission of North Macedonia does the equivalent job in its own market. Both countries are candidates for European Union membership, and both have spent years transposing pieces of the European securities framework into national law as part of that process. Neither is a member state, so none of it produces a passport.
That combination catches founders out in a specific way. The rulebook increasingly looks European, with familiar concepts: authorisation categories that track investment services and activities, client classification into retail and professional, conduct of business obligations, best execution duties, capital requirements scaled to permissions, and segregation of client assets. So the compliance work feels like a European project. But the market access that makes European authorisation valuable is absent, because that access comes from membership, not from resemblance. Anyone who has read how MiFID II works can see immediately what is missing.
What authorisation involves in practice
Both regimes ask the same core questions as any serious securities regulator. Who owns the applicant, traced through to natural persons. Are the proposed managers and the compliance function fit and proper. Is the capital adequate for the permissions requested and where does it come from. What are the internal procedures for order handling, conflicts of interest, complaints, record keeping and reporting. How does the firm identify and monitor clients under national anti money laundering law, which in both countries has been substantially aligned with European directives.
Local language is a real cost. Filings, procedures and often the exchanges with the regulator happen in the national language, which means either local counsel or local hires, and usually both. Firms that budget for the legal fee and not for the ongoing bilingual compliance burden are the ones that struggle in year two.
Leveraged retail products deserve particular care here. Whether contracts for difference and rolling spot forex are permitted for retail clients, and on what terms, depends on the specific national rules and on the scope of the licence granted. Do not assume that a European style authorisation category implies European style product permissions, and do not assume any equivalent of the ESMA leverage caps applies or does not apply. Local counsel answers this, not a comparison table.
Accession alignment is a moving target
The useful way to think about a candidate country is that its rulebook is being rewritten toward a target the country has not yet reached. Chapters of the acquis get negotiated, laws get amended, and a rule that was permissive when you incorporated may tighten before you are profitable. That direction of travel is generally toward stricter conduct requirements and more prescriptive product intervention, because that is where the European framework sits.
For a founder this has a concrete implication. A business model that depends on a gap between local rules and European rules is a business model with an expiry date attached to the accession process. A business model that works under European style rules, run from a Western Balkan base for cost reasons, survives the transition. The second is the version worth building.
Who accepts a Serbian or Macedonian licence
Domestic banks in both countries understand domestic licensed investment firms, and account opening for a properly licensed local entity with local directors is ordinary business. The friction appears in cross border money movement. Serbia and North Macedonia are outside the euro area, so euro payments run through correspondent relationships, and correspondents apply their own jurisdiction risk ratings to the whole chain. A local bank facing pressure from its correspondent will pass that pressure to its riskiest customers first, and a leveraged trading firm is on that list by category, not by conduct.
SEPA participation is worth checking directly rather than assuming, because reachability for euro payments changes as countries join payment schemes, and it materially changes the cost and speed of client deposits and withdrawals. The difference between a scheme payment and a wire is set out in SEPA versus SWIFT, and it is one of the larger operating cost differences between an EU licensed firm and a neighbouring one.
Card acquiring follows the usual high risk pattern for investment and trading merchants: underwriting on the licence, ownership, client geography and refund policy, then reserves and chargeback monitoring as conditions. Liquidity providers will onboard a properly authorised regional firm, subject to their own know your business standards and to a clear sanctions picture. Advertising platforms apply their own financial services policies country by country, typically requiring the advertiser to be authorised in the country being targeted, which is where the absence of a passport bites again.
Who these jurisdictions actually suit
They suit a firm serving clients in the Western Balkans, with local language support, local payment methods and a domestic licence that local clients can verify on a national register. That is a real business with a real moat, because it is unattractive to large European brokers and hard for offshore operators to serve properly.
They do not suit a firm whose growth plan is EU retail clients. For that, the licence has to be issued by a member state, which is why the practical comparison for those firms is between Cyprus and other EU options. Using a Balkan licence to reach into the EU is the structure that draws national regulator warnings, and the mechanics of that are covered in marketing into the EU from outside.
SINGUARD builds the software layer, not the licence. We are a software company owned by SGHK Softwares Limited in Hong Kong, we hold no financial services authorisation anywhere, and licensing questions in either country belong with local lawyers.
"Candidate country rules move toward Brussels, not away from it. If your plan needs the gap between local law and European law, you are building on something with a countdown on it."
— Alex Onta, Executive Director, SINGUARD
Key Takeaways
- The Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia and the Securities and Exchange Commission of North Macedonia supervise their national capital markets and authorise investment firms.
- Both countries have aligned much of their securities and anti money laundering law with the European framework, but alignment is not membership and produces no passport.
- Whether leveraged retail products are permitted, and on what terms, depends on national rules and the specific permission granted, so local advice is required.
- Euro payment reachability, correspondent banking pressure and high risk merchant categorisation drive the practical payment problems more than the licence does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Serbian investment firm licence allow business across the European Union?
No. Serbia is a candidate country, not a member state, so its authorisations carry no EU passport. Any firm soliciting residents of an EU country is subject to that country's rules.
Are contracts for difference allowed for retail clients in these markets?
That depends on national law and on the scope of the specific licence granted, and the rules in candidate countries change as accession chapters progress. It is a question for local counsel rather than a general answer.
Why do payments cost more than for an EU licensed competitor?
Largely because of payment scheme reachability and correspondent banking. Euro transfers that a member state firm sends as scheme payments may travel as correspondent wires instead, with higher fees, slower settlement and more compliance touchpoints.
About the Author
Alex Onta is an Executive Director at SINGUARD. He built eTrader, the terminal, the mobile apps, eTrader Broker, Copytrading, Business and Community, along with the worldwide clustered-server infrastructure it all runs on, with his brother Roman Onta helping on the design, and he leads that division today. Together with Roman he builds the Prop Firm CRM, the Broker CRM, Scalegram and CopySignals, and the two of them carry worldwide compliance, payment processing and international business structuring side by side. He lives and works in Dubai for most of the year. Meet the executive duo leading Singuard's five divisions.