Editorial · SKY7 Insights
Licensing guides, regulatory updates and field notes from the seniors who file. Written for founders deciding which licence, which jurisdiction, and what to expect before a regulator opens the file.
Archive
99 entries
The IOMFSA has consulted twice on moving crypto oversight beyond AML registration towards a full licensing regime - and, as of July 2026, the direction is still undecided. What was on the table, what the silence since tells you, and what a full regime would mean for registered businesses.
A GSC-licensed operator taking crypto deposits and a VASP-registered provider serving it can sit in one group on one island. How the Isle of Man's two regimes divide the work - and how founders structure across them.
The Isle of Man offers crypto businesses an AML/CFT registration rather than a full licence - lighter obligations, 0% standard corporate tax, and no EU passport. Who wins by staying outside MiCA in 2026, and who cannot afford to.
The Transfer of Virtual Assets Code has applied to Isle of Man virtual asset transfers since 2024. What the Code requires, the counterparty data that must travel, the tooling that works in practice - and the failure modes that supervision actually finds.
The Isle of Man registers virtual asset businesses under DBROA 2015 - an AML/CFT registration overseen by the IOMFSA, not a prudential licence. Here is what that status covers, what it does not, and how to describe it so banks take you seriously.
The Isle of Man's licensed gambling sector creates steady, local demand for regulated payment firms. Here is how the Class 8 route fits that market - the risk appetite, the AML expectations and the commercial opportunity.
A Class 8 licence gets you supervised; it does not get you banked. What the correspondent-account file needs to contain, how long onboarding realistically takes, and why applications get declined.
A Lithuanian EMI for the EEA, a UK EMI for Britain, an Isle of Man Class 8 licence for corridors that need no passport. A decision-tree comparison by market footprint, tax posture and supervision style.
The Isle of Man's 0% corporate tax is real, and it is not the whole bill. We walk through the full cost stack of an OGRA operator - gambling duty, official fees and the genuine local substance the GSC requires - and set it against Malta honestly.
A calm, checklist-driven plan for the first quarter of ownership: what to secure in week one, what banks and regulators expect by day 30, and what to refit by day 90.
Player fund protection is a mandatory condition of an Isle of Man gambling licence, not an optional badge. Here is how segregation works, why it sets the island apart, and how it changes conversations with banks and payment providers.
Buying an EMI is usually faster than a fresh authorisation - but not always, and not by as much as sellers suggest. A five-axis framework for making the call honestly.
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