Bangladesh
Starting a brokerage from Bangladesh
In Bangladesh the starting point is a statute. Under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, only dealers that Bangladesh Bank has authorised may deal in foreign exchange, and the central bank has warned more than once that trading forex through apps and websites is not approved by it and is punishable. This page walks through the Act, the Bangladesh Bank notices and circulars, and what they mean for someone planning a brokerage from Dhaka.
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947From this guide's sources
- Section 4(1)Dealing in foreign exchangeno person other than an authorised dealer
- Section 23Penaltyimprisonment of up to seven years, a fine, or both
- Bangladesh BankVirtual asset dealingsnot permitted
Figures and rows from this guide's own sources. Sample market data, sample clients and sample brands. "Your Brand" stands for your own name and logo.
Who may deal in foreign exchange under the 1947 Act
Section 3 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 lets Bangladesh Bank authorise a person, on application, to deal in foreign exchange, and the authorisation can be limited to particular currencies, transactions, periods or amounts. Section 4(1) then provides that, unless Bangladesh Bank has given permission, no person other than an authorised dealer may buy, borrow, sell, lend or exchange foreign exchange in Bangladesh. The Act, as amended in 2015, applies to all citizens of Bangladesh and all persons resident there.
Payments are caught too. Under section 5(1)(a), a person in or resident in Bangladesh may not make a payment to, or for the credit of, someone resident outside the country without an exemption from Bangladesh Bank. Section 23 allows imprisonment of up to seven years, a fine, or both for breaching the Act or a direction made under it, and company officers who knowingly take part are liable as well.
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Who holds whatIllustration
- Licence
- Client relationship
- Client money
- Trading accounts
Illustration.
On your platform
How the platform fits this route
One deployment on your brand, domain and database: the terminal your clients trade on, and the CRM your team runs.
Sample market data and sample clients. "Your Brand" stands for your own name and logo.
What Bangladesh Bank has said about forex apps
A cautionary notice listed on Bangladesh Bank's notice board on 4 September 2023, published in Bengali, reports that resident and non-resident Bangladeshis are using online apps and websites for betting, cryptocurrency, forex trading and Ponzi schemes.
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In our English translation, it says these transactions are not approved by Bangladesh Bank or any other regulator, that they are punishable under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009 and the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, and it asks people not to carry out, facilitate or promote them.
The warning has a long history. A Bangladesh Bank press release of 12 January 2012, issued before the Act's 2015 amendment, already described advertised online forex trading through anyone other than licensed dealers and money changers as illegal and punishable.
Cards, banks and crypto
Bangladesh Bank has also worked through the banks.
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FE Circular Letter No. 30 of 24 November 2019 tells authorised dealer banks to guard against illegitimate online payments abroad on international cards, naming trading in forex among its examples. FE Circular No. 24 of 15 September 2022 states that transactions in, from or to Bangladesh to obtain virtual assets, and any facilitation of their trading, are not permitted.
The second circular matters to a founder because a trading platform can list crypto. Anything with a Bangladesh connection needs counsel to review its instrument list as well as its client list.
How founders in Dhaka approach it
With dealing reserved to authorised dealers, founders who continue generally look abroad.
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The usual shape is an entity licensed in another jurisdiction, clients drawn only from markets that licence permits, and Bangladeshi residents excluded outright in the terms, with a Bangladeshi lawyer setting those boundaries before anything is built. What a team in Bangladesh may lawfully do for a foreign entity, and how money moves between them, belong in the same written advice.
Comparing offshore licence routes is a sensible next read, and our region-wide guide for South Asian founders sets Bangladesh beside its neighbours. This page is general information, not legal advice.
About the software
The platform is the same whichever jurisdiction you choose: one terminal for forex, metals, oil, indices, crypto and US stocks, with 311 instruments in all, and a staff CRM where deposits are approved by hand against the payment details you set.
Sample data and sample clients.
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Each broker gets a separate deployment and database, on plans from $1,250 a month with no setup fee.
Common questions
Anything else? Our team answers 24/7.
Is online forex trading legal in Bangladesh?
Under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, only authorised dealers may buy, sell or exchange foreign exchange in Bangladesh unless Bangladesh Bank permits otherwise, and a 2023 Bangladesh Bank notice says forex trading apps and websites are not approved by it or any other regulator. A lawyer in Bangladesh can tell you how that bears on your plans.
What is the penalty for breaching the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act?
Section 23 allows imprisonment of up to seven years, a fine, or both, and the Tribunal may order the currency or property involved to be confiscated.
Can a card issued in Bangladesh pay an overseas forex platform?
Bangladesh Bank's FE Circular Letter No. 30 of 2019 tells banks to guard against international card payments abroad for purposes that include trading in forex.
Do founders from Bangladesh take local clients?
Those who proceed usually do not. They serve markets their foreign licence permits, exclude Bangladeshi residents, and take the whole structure to counsel first.
Get the technology question settled early
Book a demo and walk through the terminal and the CRM on your own brand.