What are Capital Market Service Providers (CMSPs) in Ethiopia?
Firms licensed by ECMA to operate in the market — securities brokers, dealers, investment banks, and market makers. The CMSP Licensing Directive sets who may run this business, the capital they need, and the conduct expected of them.
“Capital Market Service Provider” (CMSP) is the umbrella term in the Proclamation for any person or firm carrying out regulated capital-market activities. Rather than a single “broker” licence, Ethiopia's framework defines a wide range of CMSP types, each licensed and supervised by ECMA under the CMSP Licensing and Supervision Directive (No. 980/2024).
These include securities brokers and dealers, digital sub-brokers, investment banks, market makers, securities custodians, investment and robo advisers, Shariah advisers, collective investment scheme operators, crowdfunding intermediaries, credit rating agencies, portfolio managers and appraisal firms.
Each type has its own eligibility, capital and licensing requirements, and all must follow the Directive's code of conduct — duties to clients, to the market and to the regulator. ECMA has begun issuing CMSP licences to the first firms.
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Educational information drawn from official ECMA, ESX and NBE documents — not investment or legal advice. For the authoritative, current detail, open the sources above or ask Mehaleq.