What is an Authorized Dealer (Authorized Dealer Bank)?
An Authorized Dealer is a commercial bank licensed by a central bank to buy and sell foreign currency and execute cross-border payments on behalf of importers and exporters. In FX-constrained markets, businesses cannot transact foreign exchange directly — every import payment must route through an Authorized Dealer, which can only sell what the central bank's allocation makes available.
The dealer verifies trade documentation, sources the foreign currency (often via an interbank market or central-bank auction), reports the transaction to regulators, and remits to the supplier. The choice of dealer matters: a bank with direct correspondent relationships can move dollars in one hop, while others route through intermediaries, adding fees and delay.
Because the dealer is constrained by the allocation it receives, a complete, compliant application can still wait. Artoh settles the dollar leg through licensed partners so payments don't depend on a single bank's allocation queue.