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ZKCAPZKCAP — global business and capital infrastructure
Permission familyUnited StatesSingapore

Securities and capital-markets intermediation

Dealing in, arranging or advising on securities and other capital-markets products, or managing money on behalf of clients.

Published jurisdictions
United States, Singapore
Regulators involved
2 distinct authorities

Scope

What this permission family covers

Regulators assess the activity, not the product name. This is the activity that brings a business inside this family.

Dealing in, arranging or advising on securities and other capital-markets products, or managing money on behalf of clients.

Instruments in this family

  • Broker-dealer registration and self-regulatory organisation membership

    United States · US Securities and Exchange Commission with the relevant self-regulatory organisation and state regulators

  • Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence

    Singapore · Monetary Authority of Singapore

Fit

Who needs this, and who does not

The negative list matters as much as the positive one. Businesses waste months applying for permissions they do not need.

Typically needed by

  • Brokerage and trading platforms offering securities to clients
  • Firms arranging investments or introducing clients to counterparties for a fee
  • Asset and portfolio managers taking discretionary mandates

Usually not needed by

  • Businesses raising capital only for themselves
  • Information or analytics products with no dealing, arranging or advising activity

Jurisdiction variant

The instrument depends on where you are authorised

Broker / capital markets is not a single permission. Choose a jurisdiction to see the instrument that applies there, the regulator that grants it, and what that regulator examines.

Choose a jurisdiction

Broker / capital markets exists as a different instrument in each published jurisdiction, with a different regulator and a different requirement set.

Choosing one keeps it in the address, so the variant can be shared and reopened.

Project model

How the programme runs

Three of these stages belong to the regulator. The platform records what the regulator has recorded and never anticipates a determination.

  1. Readiness and gap analysis

    You

    Structured questions establish which requirement areas you already satisfy and which are open. The result is a gap list, not an assessment of whether a regulator will authorise you.

  2. Scoping with a licensing specialist

    Qualified provider

    A qualified licensing provider reviews the gap list, confirms the target permission and scopes the work into a proposal.

  3. Application programme

    Qualified provider

    Policies, governance arrangements, controls documentation and the application pack are produced against the regulator's published requirements, tracked as milestones with document requirements.

  4. Submission to the regulator

    Qualified provider

    The provider submits the application and records the submission evidence. From this point the state shown reflects the regulator's position.

  5. Regulatory assessment

    External authorityOutcome not controlled by ZKCAP

    The regulator reviews the application and normally raises information requests. Each request appears as a first-class item with a response path, not as an email thread.

  6. Determination

    External authorityOutcome not controlled by ZKCAP

    The regulator authorises, refuses, or authorises with conditions or limitations. The platform records whichever determination is issued, including refusal and its remediation path.

  7. Ongoing supervision and renewals

    External authorityOutcome not controlled by ZKCAP

    Authorisation begins a supervisory relationship: reporting, notifications, attestations and periodic fees become tracked obligations.

Where this comes from

How this information is maintained

Boundary

Who is responsible, and who decides

A readiness assessment is not an application.