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Who Owns Exness Forex Broker?

Almost every trader who has studied forex brokers at least a little bit has come across Exness at some point. It is one of the most recognizable names in the world of retail FX trading. But who actually owns and operates this broker? Let’s take a look behind the curtain.

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An Intro to Exness

First, some background. Exness is a forex and CFD broker that provides trading services to retail and institutional clients around the globe. Launched back in 2008, they’ve grown rapidly to become a true international player with offices spanning multiple continents.

They offer the standard Exness MetaTrader 4 and Exness MetaTrader 5 platforms that most forex traders are familiar with. Exness has accounts for pretty much every trader style and size, from micro accounts to big-money premium services.

So Who Owns Exness Really?

Exness is privately owned by its founders and key people. The main individuals behind the company’s success are:

• Petr Valov – Chief Executive Officer
  Petr built the Exness trading platform from the start before growing the team. His skills in programming, IT, and finance operations started Exness.
• Damian Bunce – Chief Trading Officer Damian’s team has traders, quants, and platform specialists who develop new services for traders. Before Exness, Damian had top roles at Saxo Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays Capital.
• Nikita Shvetsov – Chief Technology Officer Nikita has long experience from software developer to CTO roles. He worked at Kaspersky Lab, Raiffeisen Bank, and oversaw Yandex Maps and Navigator products.

Some Basic Corporate Deets

Headquarters: Limassol, Cyprus

Licenses and regulators:

• Exness (SC) Ltd is authorized by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Seychelles (license SD025). Registered office: 9A CT House, Providence, Mahe, Seychelles.
• Exness B.V. is authorized by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) (license 0003LSI). Registered office: Emancipatie Boulevard Dominico F. “Don” Martina 31, Curaçao.
• Exness (VG) Ltd is authorized by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in the British Virgin Islands (license SIBA/L/20/1133). Registered office: Trinity Chambers, P.O. Box 4301, Road Town, Tortola, BVI.
• Exness ZA (PTY) Ltd is authorized by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa as a Financial Service Provider (FSP number 51024).
• Tadenex Limited is registered in Kenya and regulated by the Capital Markets Authority in Kenya as an Online Forex Broker (license 162).

The above entities can operate under the Exness brand and trademarks. Products may differ across entities, with Exness Cyprus and Exness UK offering only B2B services.

Real Human Owners? No Public Info

Unfortunately Exness keeps the actual human owners and their stakes tightly under wraps. There’s no publicly available information I could find listing the real people behind the company’s ownership structure.

This isn’t that uncommon in the online brokerage world though. Major players like FXCM also obscure their precise ownership details, likely for privacy and operational reasons.

Does Exness Ownership Matter for Traders?

While opaque ownership could raise concerns for some, it may not be a huge practical issue for traders using Exness.

Exness has been around for over 15 years and is propoerly regulated in multiple jurisdictions around the globe. Client funds are segregated as required by law.

From a trader’s perspective, what matters more than the nebulous ownership structure is whether the broker offers a safe, transparent and low-cost trading environment with quality support and execution. By those metrics Exness seems to largely deliver, at least based on my research and many positive user reviews online.

But if ownership transparency is extremely important to you, then you may want to consider alternative publicly-traded brokers like Saxo Bank or IG Group instead. Those firms have to disclose their owners clearly due to being publicly listed.

The Verdict

Love them or hate them, Exness has grown into a forex industry heavyweight over their 15+ year history. And while the company isn’t keen on shedding light on exactly who owns and controls Exness behind the scenes, that doesn’t appear to be a dealbreaker for traders based on their strong reputation and solid client offering.

Still, doing your own thorough research on brokers is always advised before funding a live Exness trading account. Hopefully this rundown gave you a clear picture of who’s calling the shots at Exness, even if some of those names remain hazy.