Professional Clients

What Is a professional Client?

A professional client can be either an Elective Professional or a Per Se professional, and may be either an individual or an entity.

The Elective Professional Client categorisation is assigned to a client who satisfies two of the following conditions (the “quantitative test”):

 A. The client has carried out transactions, in significant size, on the relevant market at an average frequency of 10 per quarter over the previous four quarters;

 B.  The size of the client’s financial instrument portfolio, defined as including cash deposits and financial instruments, exceeds EUR 500,000;

 C. The client works or has worked in the financial sector for at least one year in a professional position, which requires knowledge of the transactions or services envisaged.

Furthermore, the Elective Professional Client must have the expertise, experience and knowledge to be capable of making his/ her/ its own investment decisions (the “qualitative test”).

The Professional Client per se categorisation is assigned to a client who falls under any of the following (A-D):

A. An entity required to be authorised or regulated to operate in the financial markets including:

 (a) credit institution; (b) investment firm; (c) insurance companies; (d) authorised collective investment schemes or the management company of such schemes; (e) pension funds or the management company of a pension fund; (f) other authorised or regulated financial institutions; (g) commodity or commodity derivative dealers; (h) locals; (i) other institutional investor.

B. A company meeting two of the following size requirements:  (a) Balance sheet of EUR 20 million; (b) Net turnover of EUR 40 million; and/ or (c) Own funds of EUR 2 million.

C. A national or regional government or public body that manage public debt, central bank, international and supranational institution (e.g. World Bank, the IMF, the ECP), or other similar international organisation. D. Another institutional investor whose main activity in to invest in financial instruments.

The Elective Eligible Counterparty categorisation is assigned to a client who includes any of the following and carries out eligible counterparty business: A. the client is an undertaking and a professional client per se; B. the client is an undertaking and requests such categorisation and is an elective professional client but only in respect of the services or transactions for which it could be treated as a professional

The Eligible Counterparty per se categorisation is assigned to a client who includes any of the following:

A. credit institution;

B. investment firm;

C. insurance companies;

D. authorised collective investment schemes or the management company of such schemes;

E. pension funds or the management company of a pension fund;

F. other authorised or regulated financial institutions;

G. certain own account dealers in commodities or commodity derivatives;

H. locals;

I.   national government or its corresponding office;

J.  central banks;

K. supranational organisations.