United Kingdom · Payments & e-money
Rational Foreign Exchange Limited
Trading asRationalFX
Rational Foreign Exchange Limited (RationalFX) is a private limited company registered in London. The FCA authorises it as a payment institution under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, firm reference number 507958. It offered foreign exchange and international payment services to corporate and retail clients. Rajesh Agrawal and Paresh Davdra founded it in 2005. It entered special administration on 29 November 2023 with Interpath as joint special administrators, and it no longer trades.
Licences and registrations
Held by Rational Foreign Exchange Limited (LEI 213800MQJDJKBAZ3WM53). 2 entries on 2 of the 22 tracked registers, retrieved 25 September 2026.
| Register | Licence | Number | Jurisdiction | Status | Registered | Ends | Activities | Register entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCA Financial Services Register - Payment Institutions & RAISPsFCA | Authorised Payment InstitutionPayment Institution | 507958 | United Kingdom | Active | 2018-05-25 | — |
|
Search the register ↗ |
| Money Services Business RegistryFINTRAC | MSB (foreign indicator not selected)Money Transmitter / Remittance | M13837177 | Canada | Expired | 2013-04-24 | Ended 2020-04-06 |
|
Search the register ↗ |
Trading names on the register: RationalFX (FCA-PSD, FINTRAC-MSB)
- Each licence applies in the country of the regulator that granted it.
- Registers are tracked in 37 countries. Licences granted elsewhere are not recorded here.
Swift network
Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory
Holds no BIC in Swift’s directory.
Its LEI is not mapped to a BIC in the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI relationship file.
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Customers
Not published
Employees
Not published
Ownership
Privately held
Firm type
FX and business payments
Trades as RationalFX
- Standing · In liquidation or dissolved
- The firm has been in special administration since 29 November 2023. Its directors had concluded that it was insolvent. It is no longer trading. Interpath's joint special administrators are returning safeguarded funds to customers under a distribution plan that the High Court approved on 28 July 2025. The FCA states that the firm remains FCA-authorised during the special administration.
- Ownership
- Press reports describe the firm as controlled by its founders Rajesh Agrawal and Paresh Davdra. The current register of persons with significant control was not checked.
- Head office
- c/o Interpath Ltd, 10 Fleet Place, EC4M 7RB London, United Kingdom
- Company register
- Companies House 05385999
- Incorporated
- 8 Mar 2005
- Founders
- Rajesh Agrawal · Paresh Davdra
Online
- Websites & references
- rationalfx.com ↗ former domain; the joint special administrators say it falsely claims RationalFX was acquired by Markets Chain Limited
ia-insolv.com ↗ special administration case page run by Interpath - Official social accounts
- None found
Sources · 11 pages consulted
- fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/rational-foreign-exchange-limited-enters-special-administration
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05385999
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05385999/officers
- ia-insolv.com/case+INTERPATH+RNB30B2912.html
- interpath.com/media-hub/articles/special-administrators-appointed-to-rational-foreign-exchange-limited/
- thegazette.co.uk/notice/4541669
- radcliffechambers.com/re-rational-foreign-exchange-limited-2025-ewhc-1958-ch/
- fca.org.uk/news/warnings/worldwisefx-clone-fca-authorised-firm
- cityam.com/exclusive-london-forex-firm-founded-by-ex-deputy-mayor-rajesh-agrawal-shutters-customer-a
- financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/regulation/uk-fca-warns-on-clone-firm-crypto-trade-365/
- forbesindia.com/article/work-in-progress/rajesh-agrawals-company-makes-money-transfer-inexpensive/34329/1
Authorisation
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Operates under
- Its own licences
The FCA authorises the firm as a payment institution under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. Since 29 November 2023 an FCA own-initiative requirement has restricted what it may do.
| Authority | Licence or registration | Number | Held | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Conduct Authority United Kingdom | Authorised Payment Institution | 507958 | In its own name | Active | register.fca.org.uk ↗ |
| Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) Canada | Money Services Business registration (money transmitter/remittance) | M13837177 | In its own name | Withdrawn or expired | — |
Licences and registrations the research found, at home and abroad, as the firm and its regulators publish them. The Licences and registrations card shows the entries on the registers the directory tracks.
Partners and safeguarding
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Safeguarding
- Segregated safeguarding accountsAccording to the FCA, the firm had to hold customer money separately under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. The special administrators found a shortfall in the safeguarded funds.
Banks and regulated firms the firm says hold its customers’ money, issue its cards, sponsor its accounts or settle its payments, as it discloses them in its terms and notices.
Products and markets
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Until November 2023 the firm provided foreign exchange and international payment services to corporate and retail clients. It no longer offers any services.
The firm served customers from the UK, including some customers based in Europe. It stopped trading in November 2023.
- Serves customers in
- United Kingdom
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Executive
- Kristina Kicks Joint Special Administrator (Interpath Ltd)
- Founder
- Paresh Davdra Director
- Executive
- Jigar Bipinchandra Shah Director
- Executive
- Amir Karmacharya Company Secretary
Recent events 1 enforcement or investigation item
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Leadership
Ed Boyle resigned as joint special administrator with effect from 31 May 2026. Kristina Kicks remains in office.
ia-insolv.com ↗ -
Other
The High Court approved the special administrators' plan to return safeguarded funds to customers ([2025] EWHC 1958 (Ch)).
radcliffechambers.com ↗ -
Other
Interpath's Kristina Kicks and Ed Boyle were appointed joint administrators of Rational Group Limited on 1 December 2023.
interpath.com ↗ -
Enforcement
The FCA imposed an own-initiative requirement on the firm on 29 November 2023, restricting the activities it can undertake.
fca.org.uk ↗ -
Other
The firm entered special administration on 29 November 2023 after its directors concluded that it was insolvent. Its agent Xendpay Limited entered administration at the same time.
fca.org.uk ↗
Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, security incidents, licence changes, funding rounds, acquisitions and leadership changes. Each links to its source.
Regulator warnings
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Impersonation Financial Conduct Authority, United Kingdom
In 2022 the FCA warned that Crypto-Trade 365 was a clone firm using the firm's details.
financemagnates.com ↗ -
Impersonation Financial Conduct Authority, United Kingdom
The FCA warned that WorldWiseFX was a clone firm using the details of authorised firms, including this firm.
fca.org.uk ↗
Entries on regulators’ consumer-warning lists that name the firm or its brand. An impersonation warning is about fraudsters posing as the firm, not about the firm itself.
Identifiers
- Licence no. · FCA-PSD
- 507958
- Licence no. · FINTRAC-MSB
- M13837177
- BIC
- Holds no BIC in Swift’s directory
- How the LEI was matched
- Matched by Elucidate on the UK company number the register gives
- Companies House no.
- 05385999 ↗
- Elucidate firm ID
- ffda1f8a754e
- Merged register entry
- 574c4a67f817 · FINTRAC-MSB
Profile
- Type
- Payments & e-money · Money service businessPayment institutions, e-money and stored-value issuers, and account-information providers. Licensed under payment-services law (e.g. PSD2 in the EU and UK, the Payment Services Act in Singapore). Taken from the licences on the tracked registers.
- Regulation
- Prudential licenceAuthorised with capital, safeguarding and conduct requirements, e.g. an authorised payment or e-money institution in the EU or UK, a major payment institution in Singapore, or a MiCA crypto-asset service provider.
- Main licence class
- Payment Institution
- Activities
- Payment services
- Licensed in
- United Kingdom · Europe & Central Asia
- First registered
- 2018-05-25
Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.
Ownership and group
GLEIF relationship records
GLEIF’s relationship records name no parent for this LEI, and no group page is published for it.
Persons with significant control
Companies House · company 05385999 ↗ · as at 9 October 2026
Companies House lists 2 persons with significant control for Rational Foreign Exchange Limited: 2 individuals.
Status at Companies House: In Administration.
| Name | Type | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paresh Kishor Davdra | Individual | 25–50% of votes | 4 October 2016 |
| Rajesh Agrawal | Individual | 50–75% of shares · 50–75% of votes | 1 March 2017 |
Companies report persons with significant control to Companies House. Elucidate has not verified them.
A person with significant control holds more than 25% of the shares or votes, can appoint or remove the board, or has significant influence or control. Dates of birth and addresses are not shown.
Matched on the Companies House number that the FCA register gives for this firm.
See the register at Companies House ↗Addresses
- Address on the register
- Interpath Ltd, 10 Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7QS
- Country
- United Kingdom
ISO 20022 identification
As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)
This institution holds no BIC. A CBPR+ message identifies it by name and postal address, and may add its LEI or a clearing code.
- Identified by
- Name and postal address, with its LEI
- Postal address
- Hybrid: town, postcode and country in their own elements, the rest in one address line
<FinInstnId>
<LEI>213800MQJDJKBAZ3WM53</LEI>
<Nm>Rational Foreign Exchange Limited</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<PstCd>EC4M 7QS</PstCd>
<TwnNm>London</TwnNm>
<Ctry>GB</Ctry>
<AdrLine>Interpath Ltd, 10 Fleet Place</AdrLine>
</PstlAdr>
</FinInstnId>CBPR+ identifies the instructing and instructed agents by BIC only. An institution without a BIC can be the debtor, creditor or an intermediary agent.
The values are as published by the register. Check them against your own records before use.
Sources & method
Register entries come from the public registers of financial regulators, standardised into one taxonomy. LEIs are matched through GLEIF, and a BIC is linked only through a shared LEI.
An institution missing from these registers is not necessarily unregulated.
Register entries are not matched against the OFAC or EU sanctions lists. Where the legal entity also holds a BIC, the matches for that BIC are on its page. Always screen against the official lists.
An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.
Read the methodology →Registers for this page
- FCA Financial Services Register - Payment Institutions & RAISPs—Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) · source ↗ as at 25 September 2026
- Money Services Business Registry—Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) · source ↗ as at 25 September 2026
- Persons with significant control—Companies House · source ↗ as at 9 October 2026
- Overview, authorisation, partners, products, leadership and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the firm's own website, terms and filings, regulators' registers and notices, company registers and news. Licences, partners, figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
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A licence records what an institution is authorised to do; it does not assess it. The Elucidate FinCrime Index (EFI) is an independent score of the financial crime risk of banks and payment institutions.
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