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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority Has Issued New Online Banking licenses

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has recently stated that it is issuing four more virtual banking licenses, bringing the total number of virtual banking license owners to eight. This means that the overall number of banking licenses of various types operating in Hong Kong is equal to 160. **Norman Chan, the HKMA’s chief executive officer stated:** **“**We are pleased to grant f...

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Alderney Gambling License

Alderney has well developed jurisdiction and infrastructure for providing online gambling services and products with different licenses and certificates that provide with various business operating opportunities.Incorporation & obtaining license: within 2 months (from the moment of submission of documents to the Regulator) Minimum paid up capital: License fee: GBG 47 500.00 (+manda...

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The great step towards China

...h **bank account and Payment Service Provider (PSP) account opening**, are set-up upon your request. What is more, Offshorelicense Ltd supremacy is positioned on **Business License attainment**, for instance, the assistance in obtaining financial licenses such as but not limited to **Dealer in Securities License, Forex License, Banking License or Portfolio Management License**. Such solutions c...

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South Korea is planning to establish Crypto-Focused Bureau

...urrencies as financial assets such as fiat currencies. Instead, the newly-organized regulator will be named ‘Crypto-Asset Monitoring Bureau’ and its main goal is to track any suspicious crypto-related transactions and to decide whether to extend licenses for crypto operations in South Korea. “The FSC’s decision for the creation of an independent bureau inside KFIU with increased personn...

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Germany Introduces Draft Bill on Blockchain-Based Digital Securities

... digital securities and the blooming decentralized finance sector. At the beginning of 2020, Germany had allowed local banks to sell cryptocurrencies to their customers. After approving the sale, 40 banks had reportedly applied for crypto custody licenses by February 2020. Earlier this year, BaFin also officially classified cryptocurrencies as financial instruments, following regulatory recomme...

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Business advantages of Belize offshore jurisdiction

... for this jurisdiction. Company formation process in Belize requires statutory documents to be submitted while opening bank account. These include memorandums, registration certificate, directors and shareholders list and other applicable documents, licenses and certifications. **Belize offshore company formation is close to standard but there are moments you should consider.** Do not forget...

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Five Fundamental Changes in FinTech from FCA

...he number of firms whose authorisations will be restricted (suspended temporarily or even revoked permanently). This applies not only to not clean companies but also inactive companies. It should be noted that many companies that do not use their licenses for different reasons. For example. Due to the fact, that a company operates as a distributor of an e-money firm or an agent of a payment ins...

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New Gambling regulator in Curacao is coming?

...g regulator, which was expected to start operating in March, 2021, however, as of August, 2021, the changes still did not take effect. Gaming Control Board **will take over the operations of the Government of Curacao**, that had previously issued licenses to a variety of sports and e-sports betting sites & brands from all over the world. In a bid to fight illegal activity (such as **money laund...

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Head of the Estonian Financial Watchdog Endangers Crypto License Holders

... appointed to his role in May, 2021, Matis Maeker, has recently made a statement that the country should re-start the licensing process of all crypto-related businesses in the country, which implies that all of crypto exchanges will be revoked their licenses. According to Estonian media outlet, Eesti Ekspress, the financial watchdog’s chief wants to ‘turn the regulation to zero’. “Thes...

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Brand-new product - Crypto Exchange & Wallet License in Lithuania

... to another Baltic capital – Estonia – Lithuanian regulations are much more flexible in terms of the setup and come at a lower price since there is no specific requirement for onsite personnel. Currently, Lithuania offers two types of crypto licenses for virtual currency operations: **Providers of a service of exchanging a virtual (crypto) currency against a fiat currency** Official ...

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Impact of New Legal Framework on Estonian Crypto Market

...ering them to easily set up and run a location-independent business in a trusted EU environment. Therefore, Estonia is being regarded a suitable jurisdiction for setting up a company focused on providing services of the exchange of virtual currency. licenses that were issued up until the beginning of 2019 have founded to be the simplest license to comply with, and have operated many licenses in Es...

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Vanuatu is Willing to Move Its Financial Dealers Onshore

... futures contracts and derivative products (Cat. C); and digital assets (Cat. D.). The last is for the brokerage of digital assets, not their issuance, Initial Coin Offerings will not be authorized. Since the end of October, brokers can apply for licenses in the A, AB, ABC or ABCD categories – meaning that applicants for D must apply for all four. A one-time bond deposit of 5 million Vatu (ap...

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Cook Islands Money Changing-Remittance License

Cook Islands offers three types of licenses for international companies with different business activities. Combined license is the one to be chosen if you wish to conduct Forex brokerage business.Timeframe: IBC incorporation – within 4 weeks  License application and approval from the Financial Supervisory Authority – 5-6 months Minimum capital requirement: The Act does...

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Costa Rica Gambling License

...ed in Central America and is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Caribbean Sea to the east, Panama to the southeast and Pacific Ocean to the west. Costa Rica is popular for the low company setup expenses and absence of online gambling regulation and licenses.Timeframe: within 3 months Minimum paid up capital: No minimum capital requirement Overview Incorporation of Costa Ric...

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Belize Money Transmission License

Belize provides possibility for financial service providers to obtain different financial licenses with local Regulator - IFSC. Belize licensed entities enjoy high level of confidentiality, tax exemption and other benefits of modern and user-friendly offshore legislation.Incorporation & obtaining license: 3-4 months Minimum paid up capital: USD 75,000.00 * License fee: US...

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Labuan Investment Banking License

Labuan, a special region of Malaysia which addresses mainly to offshore companies and which provides an attractive taxation system, offers several types of banking licenses available for both local and foreign investors who want to establish a bank in this location.Timeframe: around 6-12 months Minimum paid up capital: MYR 10 million or its equivalent in any other currency ...

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New 6 AMLD Compliance Conditions for EMIs

...ure, considering that criminal liability will shift in this December. Also, EMIs, that co-operating with industries that are considered as high risk, are recommended by the Regulator to require stronger compliance. Similar to many cryptocurrency licenses, EMI are not been forced to comply with new conditions, but it is quite probable that EMIs, especially in the Baltics, will have to follow th...

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New requirements for Lithuania and UK EMIs

...nd implementation is expected to fully transpose the Directive, which entails enhanced criminal enforcement on directors and shareholders, blacklisting of financial institutions and closure of non-compliant entities. Therefore, companies with EMI licenses in both jurisdictions – Lithuania and UK, will be required to implement AML procedures according to 6 AMLD and new UK legal framework. ...

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Attempts to Unify Cryptocurrency Regulation and Introduction of the Travel Rule

...or investors. Offshorelicenese team are ready to assist to our clients with Crypto license obtaining in Switzerland, Singapore, Japan and Estonia according to newest legislation requirements, or acquire Estonian shelf companies with active crypto licenses. Read our blog to keep abreast of all actual and interesting technology news.

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Why is Limited Liability Partnership a popular business structure?

... Certificate of LLP. This document should be submitted to state service. Hundreds of the UK Limited Liability Partnership formations are performed in the UK per year so this procedure is fast and transparent. Afterwards, you need to obtain necessary licenses or permits to perform your business activities. Employer Identification Number, State ID Number and Insurance are required in some jurisdicti...

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Secrets of starting a business in the UAE

... on business activity of the company. However, these entities have issues with trading outside free zones and need to establish a local agent company. On the contrary, offshore entities are allowed to trade outside the UAE and need to obtain special licenses and permissions to go on the market. To decide which zone to choose it is better to consult with an analyst or offshore specialist. Differ...

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How to choose a suitable company structure for your business?

...run their business effectively. Here are 4 types of offshore company structure that are most often used: 1. Sole proprietorship is a structure where the founder is the only owner of the company and runs it all by himself. It is easy to obtain licenses or permits for this type of business structure, and some countries does not require registration. On the other hand, entrepreneur is fully re...

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Novelties for the Blockchain Business and ICOs in Gibraltar

...ferring values that belong to others. Currently, **DLT** is widely known as Blockchain and businessmen with an innovative vision started establishing the firms that use this technology. From now on, **Blockchain services** need to obtain special licenses from the Commission and become official providers. The main idea of the novelty is to support companies working with the distributed ledger t...

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Review of the Funds in Cayman Islands

...s releases digests on the funds industry. The latest one was issued on December 29 revealing the data for 2016. This year has mostly showed a decrease in number of registered funds except for Master funds that reported growth in 2016. In general, licenses and/or registrations were issued for more than 10 and a half thousands of funds. It is less than in 2015, but only by 354. Therefore, the dec...

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Negative effects for Payment Service and E-money Institutions in case of no-deal Brexit

...banks for euro correspondent services, including non-bank PSPs, such as PIs and EMIs, which will have to open accounts with EU-based PSPs. Many Authorised Payment Service Institutions and Authorised E-money Institutions based in the UK also acquired licenses in the EU Member States and established subsidiaries or at least made applications. Regarding accessibly to SEPA, there are countries outs...

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How to Incorporate a Company and Why it is Beneficial

...type of activity** While setting up a business, you also need to choose the best place to settle. Jurisdiction means nearly everything when you go international with your company. Do not forget that certain business activities require permits or licenses. In different countries it is easier or more complicated to obtain the necessary license. This process can be tricky, depending on the situat...

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Mauritius Global Business Category 1 (GBC1)

...ave been met. Business formations involved in financial services business in particular forex trading, investment management, insurance, banking, investment advisory services, as an example, can only be created as GBC1 companies and receive extra licenses from the FSC wherever relevant. **GBC 1 formation having the highest level of confidentiality under local law and no information regarding...

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The Cook Islands first licensed online foreign exchange money changer

...th separate islands. The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is a local financial regulator which, as of July 2003, replaced the former Off-shore Financial Services Commission. It is worth pointing out that all money changer’s and remittance licenses are issued under the Money-changing and Remittance Business Act 2009. The money changer’s and remittance license allows a company to con...

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Tierion: utilizing the bitcoin blockchain to verify documents

... and auditing procedures more secure. Companies can create immutable histories of their business processes for later review. Tierion’s platform also allows users to issue blockchain verifiable credentials. These credentials include professional licenses, educational credits, and even awards. The data helps to reduce fraudulent activity in the sector by providing businesses with an easy and af...

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Singapore authorities are planning to support crypto startups with receiving banking services

...g minds together on this so that we can get over this hurdle."* As was stated in MAS report the central bank, at this moment has no object to employ a licensing mechanism for crypto exchanges, unlike its Japanese counterpart has done – granting licenses to 16 Japanese exchanges in order to help them obtain banking services. Stay tuned with **Offshorelicense** to be informed of all latest l...

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Two of Malta's blockchain acts came into force

...assets, as well as establishes provisions for the obligatory matters related to the licensing application and white paper conditions. Since the Acts are already in force you might see a lot of public statements regarding the successfully obtained licenses. Dear readers, we hasten to inform you that they might be misleading. **Offshorelicense** as a reliable corporate service provider has obtain...

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Attention! As of January 2019, amendments to Vanuatu Financial Dealers Licensing Act came into force

...ed to VT 5.000.000 for each claim with an aggregate cover of not less than VT50.000.000 and a maximum deductible amount of VT500.000 As a way of assisting and monitoring financial dealing businesses, the proposed amendments now divided dealer’s licenses into 3 different categories namely Class A Principal’s License, Class B Principal’s License and Class C Principal’s License. A person i...

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Crypto exchange industry is not as compliant as it appears to us

...able questionable business practices and criminal or terrorist activity. A lot of such platforms require just a crypto wallet address in order to start using it. Generally, there were several exchanges identified as “low risk” due to official licenses and strict KYC/AML policies, among them are Coinsquare, Coinbase, Gemini and the Circle-owned Poloniex. It is worth noting that numerous e...

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Hong Kong Type 9 (Asset Management) License

... research and securities analysis. Consequently, such incidental activity allows a Type 9 licensed corporation to carry out activities (on a limited basis) without the need to obtain Type 1 (Dealing in securities) and Type 4 (Advising on securities) licenses, respectively. The individuals who carry on regulated functions on behalf of a licensed corporation are required to be licensed representa...

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Hong Kong Type 3 (Leveraged Foreign Exchange Trading) License

...ce, Cooperative, Tourist Association, Kaifong, Mass Transit, Underground Railway In order to obtain a license, the following steps will be carried out: Assistance with registration of Responsible Officers (obtaining personal licenses) Application for reservation of company name Incorporation of a Hong Kong company Opening a bank account Preparation/compiling of the...

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St. Vincent and Grenadines International Banking License

... the Financial Services Authority.Timeframe: between 4 and 8 months Minimum paid up capital:   - Class A: 1,000,000 USD  - Class B: 500,000 USD Overview There are two (2) types of international banking licenses issued by the Authority in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Class A - for the purpose of carrying on international banking business ge...

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Bulgaria Forex License

...r EUR 730,000.00 depending on the licence type (STP or MM) License government application fee: EUR ~3,200 or 5,100 depending on the license type License renewal government fee: EUR 1,300 Overview There are two types of licenses in Bulgaria applicable for forex and two types of companies can apply – ordinary Ltd’s and JSC’s: Standard license – requires B...

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Labuan Fund Management License

...n: Inc., Corp. or S.A. If the Malaysian word “Berhad” is used, then “L” to denote that the company is incorporated in Labuan must precede it.  Corporate names cannot include the following words without additional government permits or licenses: Bank, Building Society, Insurance, Assurance, Reinsurance, Chamber of Commerce, University, Municipal or their foreign language equival...

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British Virgin Islands Forex License

...ervices in and from within the BVI. Such services include insurance, banking, trustee business, company management, mutual funds business as well as the registration of companies, limited partnerships, intellectual property and ships. The BVI FSC licenses and authorizes companies by issuing Securities and Investment License which enables them to operate financial service business. As regards to...

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Cyprus Forex License

...s regulatory body in Cyprus is the 'Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission' (CySEC).Being a member of the EU, Cyprus is in full compliance and duly harmonized with the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive(MiFID) There are two types of licenses in Cyprus applicable for forex and usually the companies are known as CIF – Cyprus Investment Firm: Standard license –approx. EUR 1...

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Andorra Limited Liability Company (SL) Formation

...rs of the general assembly are taken on by the single partner. Taxation 10% maximum corporate tax rate 2% corporate tax on profits for companies involved in activities such as international management and licensing of patents and software licenses. These 2% reduced corporate tax models are subject to some minimum requirements Standard VAT rate is 4.5%  Social security con...

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Switzerland Crypto License

...ts Supervisory Authority (FINMA) through regular publication of guidelines in one or another area of cryptobusiness. Thus, based on the recommendations of FINMA, almost all activities in the field of cryptobusiness fall under one of the following licenses (depending on the business model, one activity may fall under several licenses at the same time): Financial intermediary license (the m...

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