MetaTrader licence: the St Lucia company and document pack MetaQuotes asks for

For years many brokers and prop firms ran MetaTrader through white-label providers or informal “grey label” arrangements. MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT5 white labels around late 2022, and in early 2024 it was widely reported that platform access had been withdrawn from firms without a direct agreement or adequate compliance. Several well-known prop firms lost MT5 at short notice.

The route back has been the same for most of them: form a company of their own and apply for a direct licence. MetaQuotes then looks at that entity in detail:

• who owns and controls it, down to the UBO;
• where it is registered and where it actually operates;
• whether its registered activities allow it to offer trading services;
• whether it holds a corporate bank account that can issue a reference letter;
• whether its website is transparent about the company, its addresses and its risks.

Most applications that stall do so for avoidable reasons. The company exists, but the Memorandum says nothing about forex or brokerage, there is no proof of a physical address, the share register does not show the real UBO, or the bank cannot produce a letter. Our service is designed to close those gaps before you submit. If you are still choosing between routes, read MT5 white label vs full licence.

Saint Lucia is not the only option, but it fits the MetaQuotes review well for several practical reasons:

• Clear corporate law. IBCs are governed by the International Business Companies Act, Cap. 12.14, amended in 2022 and supported by updated regulations from November 2024. The name must end in “International Business Company” or “IBC”.
• Licensed incorporation only. Only a registered agent licensed under the Registered Agent and Trust Licensing Act can form an IBC, and the company must keep a registered agent and office in Saint Lucia at all times. That gives MetaQuotes a regulated counterparty for good standing and incumbency documents.
• Flexible ownership. One director is enough, there is no local director requirement and the company can be fully foreign-owned. Only the Memorandum and Articles, agent and office appear on the public file.
• No local forex licence regime. Saint Lucia does not license forex, so the question is not “can I get a St Lucia licence?” but “are my objects and my target markets set up correctly?”.
• Fast, remote setup. Our agent partners typically incorporate within 3–5 business days after due diligence is complete.

Important: a St Lucia IBC is not a forex licence. The Registry of International Business Companies states that “Saint Lucia does not currently regulate or licence Forex Trading or Binary Options business”, and the FSRA has warned that “forex business is not licensed in Saint Lucia”, so any document claiming FSRA registration or licensing for forex is “false and misleading”. Never present your company as regulated. Whether you need a licence in the countries where your clients live is a separate question for local counsel; we are not a law firm and do not give legal advice.

There are obligations too. IBCs incorporated from 1 January 2019 must show adequate substance (employees, operating expenses and investment proportionate to the business), sign a statutory declaration on AML, anti-terrorism and income tax compliance, and, since 1 July 2021, file annual income tax returns. The annual government fee is due by 15 January, and shareholder and beneficial-owner returns go to the agent by 15 February. Our Why Saint Lucia page and the jurisdictions comparison cover the alternatives, including St Vincent, where the FSA requires forex companies to show a licence from their target markets before incorporation.