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Electronic Money Institution License

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Malta Electronic Money Institution (EMI) License

Your footstep to Europe & the gateway to the World

Forward-looking Malta has laid the groundwork for a strong economy in International Finance and enjoys a stable political climate. Despite being one of the EU’s smallest member state, Malta is one of the best performing Eurozone economies, with a steady economic growth and low unemployment rate.Notably, Malta is in the Top 4 European Union Jurisdictions which obtained the highest number of Payment Institution and E-Money Institutions Licences obtained. Malta was also the first EU country to launch a solid regime and infrastructure for E-Money Institutions, which complemented the large number of Gaming (over 300), Digital, Blockchain and E-commerce operators present in Malta. The rapid development of these interdependent sectors combined with the possibility to passport services across all of Europe and Malta’s low effective corporate tax rate (5%), makes Malta one of the most attractive jurisdictions to set up shop in. In a statistical study conducted in April 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that that the Maltese Economy will strongly recover from the effects of Covid-19 and will be the least impacted country in the EU!

 

Benefits/Highlights:

  • Access to the EU via Passporting
  • Member of the EU and Eurozone
  • The use of the English Language and dynamic qualified Human Capital
  • 5% Effective Corporate Tax rates
  • Top EU Jurisdiction of Choice for Financial Institutions
  • Home to over 300 Gaming operators, over 600 Investment Funds and many Tech and Digital Operators.
  • Rated Jurisdiction with the best IIP & Citizenship Programmes in Europe

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  • Legal Basis: Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) are regulated by the Maltese Financial Institutions Act which incorporates the terms of the EU Payment Services Directive (1 and 2) the EU Electronic Money Directive.
  •  Competent Authority: The Maltese competent authority is called the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).
  •  Passporting rights: Given that payment services and the issuing of electronic money is the subject of harmonised EU legislation, these specific activities may be passported into other EU member states and EEA jurisdictions in accordance with the prescribed notification procedure.

Primary Licensable Services & Activities:

  • Services enabling cash to be placed on a payment account as well as all the operations required for operating a payment account;
  • Services enabling cash withdrawals from a payment account as well as all the operations required for operating a payment account;
  • Execution of payment transactions, including transfers of funds on a payment account with the user’s payment service provider or with another payment service provider:
  • Execution of payment transactions where the funds are covered by a credit line for a payment service user:
  • Issuing of payment instruments and/or acquiring of payment instruments;
  • Money remittance;
  • Payment Initiation services;
  • Account information services;
  • Issuance of electronic money.

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License Application requirements

  • Submission of  Documents: the Company’s Business Plan + 3 year financial Projections (we could either vet or assist in drafting this from scratch) and the filling in and submission of other ancillary license application documentation such as the Application Form and Entity Questionnaire forms.
  • Due Diligence Exercises on Directors, Shareholders and Key Functionaries which are mainly the Compliance Officer, Money Laundering Reporting Officer, Risk Manager, and Internal Auditor (depending on the volume and size of operations and the regulator’s discretion it may be possible to combine some of these roles.)
  • Other requirements include, having at least 2 competent individuals (Directors) to effectively run the business, an EU banking relationship and local Presence.

Capital Requirements: 350k Euro.

Regulatory Fees: The application fee is 3,500k euro and the annual supervision fee is equivalent to 0.0002 of the total assets as reported at the end of the preceding year in the balance sheet, but never less than €2,500.

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What we will assist you with during the Licence Application Process is:

  • Incorporation and formation of one Maltese trading company (including M&A and filing with registry)
  • Guidance/Vetting/Drafting your Business Plan
  • Filling in all necessary PQs / fit and proper tests for all key persons, Directors and shareholders for the MFSA’s approval
  • Liaise with the MFSA and accompany you to all preliminary meetings
  • Filling in and submitting all other necessary forms (Application Forms, Entity Questionnaire forms etc)
  • Assist in drafting MFSA response letters throughout the license procedure
  • Refer you to competent persons in our network to fill any needed roles (MLRO, Compliance, local non-executive director, Internal Auditor, Systems Auditor).
  • Assist in anything else which may be required in connection with such license application. (such as Financial Services legal advice, running corporate services, Residency, Passporting Services, bank account openting)
  • Full continued end to end support from engagement to obtaining license approval!

 

Why Work with us:

  • International Reach with Offices in 6 jurisdictions.
  • Members of the Legal 500 and the Malta Chamber of Commerce.
  • Members of our Team appointed as advisors to the Government.
  • Turnkey Solutions via other companies in our group providing corporate, tax, gaming and audit services.
  • Work Values centre around: Customer Satisfaction, Honesty, and having open communication channels.
  • High Success Rates.

 Want to know the difference between a PI and EMI and a Credit Institution, read more in this article by one of our experts

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