Publication date: 15 Oct 2019

In September 2019, the number of clients of Russian Forex dealers amounted to 10,087 people, as reported by the Association of Forex dealers (AFd), a self-regulating organization on the Russian Forex market. Compared to 2018, the number increased by 1,087 people. According to AFd, Forex dealers with a license from the Russian central bank now have 3,236 active clients.

“There is a positive trend on the whole Forex market in Russia given the fact that the set of financial instruments is limited; Russians are not only staying but also getting more interested in the market,” said Evgeny Masharov, the head of the AFd.  

The trend is supported by the fact that the Russian central bank is ready to listen to the professional community. This relates to some relaxations introduced to the draft law on investor classification that might come into force on 1 April 2021. 

The central bank might abandon its plans to classify retail investors into three categories (protected nonqualified investors, ordinary nonqualified investors, qualified investors) and might leave only two categories instead (qualified and nonqualified investors).

What should be said about advertising of Forex services in Russia is that competition decreased after a sweeping purge of the market was carried out. Search engines are the core of advertising. Competition in contextual advertising is less intense now, clicks and leads are cheaper. The client base has grown, but not radically, as long as dealers continue operating outside of Russia.