CFI Gets Preliminary Dubai Approval for Its Crypto Brokerage Arm

CFI Financial Group said today (Monday) that CFIX, its crypto unit in Dubai, won in-principle approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for broker-dealer services. CFIX cannot start any virtual asset services until it holds a full license, CFI said.

The permission would add crypto brokerage to a group whose website lists coins as contracts for difference (CFDs). CFI reported $3.45 trillion in third-quarter notional volume on its existing business.

VARA's public register dates the approval September 29 and shows broker-dealer services, which cover arranging and executing trades in virtual assets, as the only activity. Holders of such approvals may not begin operations or serve clients before a full license, the register states.

London's trading industry is coming home!

Seven of VARA's 25 In-Principle Entries Date From September

The register also shows how many firms are at the same stage as CFIX. It lists 25 in-principle entries, two of them withdrawn, against 60 full licenses, up from 45 licensed providers counted by FM Intelligence in April.

Seven of the 25 are dated September, the most for any month, and 19 include broker-dealer services, by FinanceMagnates.com's count.

Scope varies among firms on the list. Revolut, which also still needs final approvals, has three activities against one for CFIX, adding exchange and investment services to broker-dealer.

The gap between the two stages can be long. Bybit received in-principle approval in 2024, and the register dates its full license October 20, 2026, about two years later. CFI said it will work on its conditions over the coming months.

VARA's list is separate from the federal, Abu Dhabi and Dubai International Financial Center rosters among the 12 regulators followed by FM Intelligence's license and registration monitoring tool.

Leadership Appointments Still to Be Finalized

VARA's conditions for CFIX include finalizing leadership appointments, operational infrastructure, governance arrangements and regulatory controls, according to CFI.

"The next decade will be about proving its standards," Ziad Melhem, chief executive of CFI, said of the virtual asset industry in a statement.

CFIX is a separate legal entity with its own governance, CFI said. Its website is marked as coming soon and says the unit is not yet fully licensed.

Melhem's group presents the Dubai application as one more regulated entry. Brazil's central bank authorized a CFI securities brokerage in April, which took the group to 15 licenses, and CFI also cited its launches in Colombia and Bahrain.

The board has changed as well. Federico Cirulli, whom CFI describes as independent, became chairman in September, while co-founders Hisham Mansour and Eduardo Fakhoury moved to non-executive seats.