Practical licensing explainers for founders comparing EMI, MSB, PI, VASP and gaming routes, with regulator expectations and filing sequence.
Practical licensing explainers for founders comparing EMI, MSB, PI, VASP and gaming routes, with regulator expectations and filing sequence.
Start with the regulated activity and customer flow, then compare capital, safeguarding, local substance, governance and banking dependencies. The founder's EMI guide explains how permissions map to an e-money product; the Canadian MSB comparison separates a fresh registration from an acquisition; and the change-of-control timeline maps regulator and completion sequencing for an authorised-entity acquisition. Use the archive to identify the questions a filing plan must answer before jurisdiction selection or document drafting.
Editorial archive
50 entries
Compare the UAE's five regulatory perimeters: VARA for Dubai virtual assets, DFSA for the DIFC, FSRA for ADGM, the federal capital-market layer and the Central Bank for mainland banking and payments. Start from the business model and customer base.
SRO affiliation places a Swiss financial intermediary under AML supervision. What SO-FIT, VQF and ARIF do, how the three differ in practice, and how to choose - including when an affiliated-entity acquisition fits the plan.
A practical controller-readiness guide for licensed-company buyers: ownership, source of funds and wealth, track record, financial soundness and the operating plan.
FINTRAC MSB registration is measured in weeks - but the end-to-end Canadian launch can be planned over 2-4 months. This stage-by-stage guide combines service scoping, the AML programme, registration and banking.
A share acquisition preserves the company, permission, compliance framework and history while SKY7 plans banking, team and counterparty continuity.
When you buy a licensed company, the regulator's change-of-control step sets the closing date. Compare statutory windows, information-request pauses and transaction preparation across the FCA, Bank of Lithuania, FINTRAC, MiCA and VARA.
A share purchase transfers control of the company that holds the permission. This guide maps the buyer assessment, approval or notification step and the resulting transaction timeline.
The core UK EMI cost lines sit in two official schedules: FEES 3 Annex 10R for the FCA's application fees and Schedule 2 to the Electronic Money Regulations for capital - still euro-denominated. Here is the full cost picture as of July 2026, including the safeguarding operating requirements that now form a core part of the budget.
Acquire a DFSA-licensed DIFC firm through a share purchase, with prior written approval for controllers crossing 10%, 30% or 50%. Plan the GEN 11.8 filing, 90-day statutory framework and completion sequence.
Article 6 of the Swiss Banking Ordinance creates a practical sandbox for testing deposit-holding models up to CHF 1 million. Here are its operating conditions and the route onward to the FINMA fintech licence.
Switzerland maps payment and stored-value models through the FINMA fintech licence, the Article 6 sandbox and SRO affiliation. Compare the scope and commercial fit of each route.
Switzerland has 11 recognised SROs supervising AMLA financial intermediaries and 4 authorised SOs supervising FINMA-licensed portfolio managers and trustees. Compare the scope, thresholds and costs of each route.
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