The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has opened the registration process for tourism businesses under its newly issued Forex regulations.

As outlined in the regulations, the MMA will now issue two types of licenses forex businesses: Tier 1 and Tier 2. The Tier 1 license allows businesses to buy and sell foreign currency, but it is available only to companies established under the Companies Act specifically for this purpose. These licenses are valid for five years. Additionally, the rules stipulate that the company's owner must be a Maldivian, and all employees involved in the currency exchange business must also be locals.

The Tier 2 license is designated for companies that are authorized to operate tourist resorts under the Tourism Act, according to the regulations.

In a notification released last evening, MMA clarified that businesses currently holding a valid forex license will be allowed to continue their operations under the existing license while their application for a new license under the revised regulations is being processed. However, if businesses fail to apply for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 license within two months from the regulations' effective date, their existing licenses will be canceled after this period.

The MMA also mentioned that applications for license renewals must be submitted through the application form available at https://extranet.mma.gov.mv/money-changers.

To limit the number of new licenses, the MMA will cap the total at 50 applicants. If the number of qualified applicants exceeds 50, a lottery system will be used to select the license holders.

The deadline to apply for a new license is October 30. For more information, interested parties can contact the MMA at 3012122 or by email at [email protected].