Finance11 August, 20262 min read
Flowdesk Omega FZE Wins Full VARA Broker-Dealer License In Dubai, Enabling Institutional Services
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Flowdesk Omega FZE awarded full VARA broker-dealer license to offer regulated services. License enables Flowdesk to serve institutional investors and operate in Dubai's crypto market.
Flowdesk wins VARA license
Flowdesk’s Dubai subsidiary, Flowdesk Omega FZE, received a full broker-dealer license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) on August 10, enabling regulated broker-dealer services to qualified and institutional investors in and from Dubai. The authorization followed an in-principle approval the subsidiary received in June, and it came weeks after Flowdesk Europe locked down its Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) status under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework effective June 30.
“The authorization, issued on August 10, came roughly two months after the subsidiary received in-principle approval in June.”
In the same period, Flowdesk raised $102 million in a financing round in early 2025, with capital earmarked partly for building out its UAE presence. The investor roster for that $102 million round included BlackRock, Cathay Innovation, and Coinbase Ventures, and Flowdesk co-founder and CEO Guilhem Chaumont described the licenses as crucial milestones in compliance-focused expansion.
Scope: qualified and institutional
Flowdesk said VARA granted the license to its local entity, Flowdesk Omega FZE, allowing it to provide regulated broker-dealer services to qualified and institutional investors in and from Dubai. FinanceFeeds framed the practical boundary as a shift from in-principle approval to a full licence, noting that an in-principle approval is not permission to trade and that the full licence follows a second review of documentation, governance and operating readiness.
FinanceFeeds also reported a public-record caveat when checked on 11 August, saying Flowdesk’s own UAE corporate disclosure still listed both its licence number and issue status as “Pending,” even as it listed broker-dealer services as the intended activity. The same FinanceFeeds account described what the VARA broker-dealer licence permits, including arranging or accepting orders, matching buyers and sellers, dealing for the firm’s own account, and making markets using client assets.
Regulatory footprint and investors
Flowdesk’s Dubai broker-dealer approval sits alongside its France authorization from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) under MiCA, with FinanceFeeds identifying the authorised company as Flowdesk Europe SAS with registration number A2026-022. FinanceFeeds said the MiCA deadline placed capital, governance, custody and marketing requirements behind a single EU authorisation process, and it described Dubai and France as providing Flowdesk with two legal entities under different rule sets rather than one global permission.
ANTARA quoted Guilhem Chaumont saying, “Receiving our full license from VARA is a defining milestone for Flowdesk,” and it added that the receipt of the full license followed the In-Principle Approval (IPA) in June 2026. ANTARA also stated Flowdesk has an office in Dubai and over 200 employees globally, and it said the firm is backed by BlackRock, Cathay Innovation, and Coinbase Ventures while offering 24/7/365 coverage across more than 150 exchange venues globally.