Forex brokers are able to obtain a financial license from the pacific island of Vanuatu. Approval is provided by the by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, which was first established back in 1993.

Recently, the jurisdiction has grown increasingly popular among FX brokers and binary options traders due to favourable tax environment and the ease of license procurement, according to Nir Porat, co-managing partner at Ben Basat, Porat & Co., who is responsible for firm’s corporate and international law departments.

The island nation also boasts some of the lowest regulatory fees, beating competitors, including Mauritius and Belize

“Vanuatu (formerly known as the New Hebrides Islands) might not be as well-known as some of the other tropical paradises in the Pacific Ocean, but it has plenty to offer business owners, especially those active in the finance industry,” writes Porat in a blog post. “As such, Vanuatu offers a variety of tax benefits, as the nation has no income tax, no capital gains tax nor inheritance tax.

“Many international ship-management companies are known to sail their ships under the flag of the nation as well as several well-known file-sharing services, such as KaZaA and WinMX which are incorporated in Vanuatu too in order to avoid the legal challenges they would have faced if incorporated in other jurisdictions,” added Porat.

For FX brokers the speed in which they can gain regulatory approval is impressive to say the least. In fact, it only takes around two to three months from start to finish for brokerages to obtain a license to trade through the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission.

What is more, jurisdiction has some of the lowest capital requirements in the world, with brokers only needing $2000. The island nation also boasts some of the lowest regulatory fees, beating competitors, including Mauritius and Belize.