If you are looking to get authorised in Ireland or elsewhere as a regulated service provider, please complete our Authorisation Form to start the process.
NEW: Our Peter Oakes has written comprehensive guides on Why Ireland For Fintech for securing an Electronic Money Authorisation and securing a Payment Institution Authorisation (which includes AISP and PISPs).
NEW: Our Peter Oakes has written comprehensive guides on Why Ireland For Fintech for securing an Electronic Money Authorisation and securing a Payment Institution Authorisation (which includes AISP and PISPs).
Brexit News Updates - in response to questions from our fintech clients and contacts about the likelihood of the UK ending the transition period on 31 December 2020 without a deal on passporting of financial services, we have created a Brexit Update Page. We have no political view on Brexit. We simply believe that UK firms passporting into EEA member states and those passporting into the UK need to make plans, and quickly, to ensure no discontinuity of service.
The eagle-eyed reader will not that the new Brexit Update page reflects the Brexit pages on Fintech UK and Fintech Ireland
The eagle-eyed reader will not that the new Brexit Update page reflects the Brexit pages on Fintech UK and Fintech Ireland
Saturday 30 May 2020: Irish Government is to restart preparations for a no-deal Brexit, Ministers will be told today, as negotiations between the UK and EU on a trade deal show little signs of progress. Read Here. UK fintech and financial services, it's time to advance plans to establish a presence in Ireland! The UK must decide by the end of June if it wishes to seek an extension to the present transition phase. However, the UK government has said it will not under any circumstances apply for an extension, meaning there are just seven months left for UK firms that need a financial services passport to establish a fully authorised base in a Member State which CompliReg can assist with. Read Here
Wednesday 27 May 2020: UK hopes that the EU will reach an agreement soon on the treatment of the UK’s crucial financial services sector, based on the principle of “equivalence” of regulation, but that issue had become entangled in the row about fishing. Read Here
Wednesday 27 May 2020: UK hopes that the EU will reach an agreement soon on the treatment of the UK’s crucial financial services sector, based on the principle of “equivalence” of regulation, but that issue had become entangled in the row about fishing. Read Here
Despite Brexit uncertainty, the UK’s fintech and wider technology and financial services sectors have grown strongly in recent years. Output in the information and communication sector has expanded three times as fast as the UK’s overall economy since the EU 'Brexit' referendum in 2016. The UK owes this recent success to several factors. Some are familiar: world-class universities, a flexible labour market and deep pools of investor capital. Furthermore the country’s liberal market economy is better placed to adopt new technologies than it was for the factory-based production during the middle of the 20th century, when it fell behind the rest of Europe.
Notwithstanding this positive news, any fintech regulated to provide EU/EEA passportable financial services should be fully aware that there are no plans for the continuation of regulated UK financial services across the EU/EEA following the UK having left the European Union on 31 January 2020 regardless of what is known as the "transition period" which comes to an end on 31 December 2020. [NB: the transition period is an 11-month transition period during which the UK will for all intents and purposes remain a de facto member of the EU bloc.]. As recently as 23 January 2020, the UK FCA informed the markets that "Firms still need to ensure they are prepared for a range of scenarios that may happen at the end of 2020 – and this includes the scenario in which the activities they conduct might not be covered by agreements reached between the UK and the EU."
There is currently no discussions between the UK and the EU on financial services (i.e. regulated fintech services). We know from the Queen's Speech delivered at the end of 2020 that the UK government is to propose new laws on financial services but nothing thus far indicates what the future will be for UK companies passporting financial services across the EU and EU companies passporting financial services into the UK. There is some short term comfort for those firms currently passporting into the UK which have already applied to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Bank of England (BoE) (via the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA)) under the temporary permissions regime. In a summary of where we stand on the UK's 60bn 'services' industry, the UK Financial Times noted on Monday 13 January 2020 that the outgoing Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, believed that the UK shouldn’t tie its hands when it comes to the City and should push to be less aligned with Brussels on services. This followed an interview Mr Carney gave to the FT on 7 January where he urged the UK government to avoid aligning its financial regulations with those in the EU in the hope of better trade terms after Brexit.
“It is not desirable at all to align our approaches, to tie our hands and to outsource regulation and effectively supervision of the world’s leading complex financial system to another jurisdiction,” Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of England.
Wolfgang Munchau's opinion piece in the Financial Times on 12 January 2020 makes the important point that "The reason a narrow trade deal is now the most likely way forward is that all the alternatives have been eliminated."
What does this mean for your fintech business?
(1) If you are a fintech regulated by the FCA or the BoE / PRA and you wish to continue to provide such regulated financial services cross-border (either by way of freedom of services or freedom of establishment) after 31 January 2020 then you should commence an application for authorisation with a financial services regulator in another EU Member State now.
(2) If you are a fintech regulated in an EU/EEA Member State and you wish to continue providing your regulated financial services in the UK after 31 January 2020, then you should commence an authorisation for your fintech operations from either the FCA or the BoE/PRA now.
Obviously there is very little time to apply and receive an authorisation in the UK or elsewhere before 31 January 2020. Although it is stands to reason that there should be some arrangement put in place between the UK and the EU to allow regulated firms to continue to operate in the others' jurisdiction, that will be of a temporary nature only. It is taking anywhere from 8 months to two years for companies to get authorised in the UK and elsewhere in the EU. Thus if you don't apply now, even if there is an extension, there is no guarantee that you will obtain the necessary authorisation before the end of 2020 - in which case your passportable activities are at a significant risk, both strategically and operationally.
The message is loud and clear - get moving now on your UK and / or EU authorisation!
Notwithstanding this positive news, any fintech regulated to provide EU/EEA passportable financial services should be fully aware that there are no plans for the continuation of regulated UK financial services across the EU/EEA following the UK having left the European Union on 31 January 2020 regardless of what is known as the "transition period" which comes to an end on 31 December 2020. [NB: the transition period is an 11-month transition period during which the UK will for all intents and purposes remain a de facto member of the EU bloc.]. As recently as 23 January 2020, the UK FCA informed the markets that "Firms still need to ensure they are prepared for a range of scenarios that may happen at the end of 2020 – and this includes the scenario in which the activities they conduct might not be covered by agreements reached between the UK and the EU."
There is currently no discussions between the UK and the EU on financial services (i.e. regulated fintech services). We know from the Queen's Speech delivered at the end of 2020 that the UK government is to propose new laws on financial services but nothing thus far indicates what the future will be for UK companies passporting financial services across the EU and EU companies passporting financial services into the UK. There is some short term comfort for those firms currently passporting into the UK which have already applied to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Bank of England (BoE) (via the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA)) under the temporary permissions regime. In a summary of where we stand on the UK's 60bn 'services' industry, the UK Financial Times noted on Monday 13 January 2020 that the outgoing Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, believed that the UK shouldn’t tie its hands when it comes to the City and should push to be less aligned with Brussels on services. This followed an interview Mr Carney gave to the FT on 7 January where he urged the UK government to avoid aligning its financial regulations with those in the EU in the hope of better trade terms after Brexit.
“It is not desirable at all to align our approaches, to tie our hands and to outsource regulation and effectively supervision of the world’s leading complex financial system to another jurisdiction,” Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of England.
Wolfgang Munchau's opinion piece in the Financial Times on 12 January 2020 makes the important point that "The reason a narrow trade deal is now the most likely way forward is that all the alternatives have been eliminated."
What does this mean for your fintech business?
(1) If you are a fintech regulated by the FCA or the BoE / PRA and you wish to continue to provide such regulated financial services cross-border (either by way of freedom of services or freedom of establishment) after 31 January 2020 then you should commence an application for authorisation with a financial services regulator in another EU Member State now.
(2) If you are a fintech regulated in an EU/EEA Member State and you wish to continue providing your regulated financial services in the UK after 31 January 2020, then you should commence an authorisation for your fintech operations from either the FCA or the BoE/PRA now.
Obviously there is very little time to apply and receive an authorisation in the UK or elsewhere before 31 January 2020. Although it is stands to reason that there should be some arrangement put in place between the UK and the EU to allow regulated firms to continue to operate in the others' jurisdiction, that will be of a temporary nature only. It is taking anywhere from 8 months to two years for companies to get authorised in the UK and elsewhere in the EU. Thus if you don't apply now, even if there is an extension, there is no guarantee that you will obtain the necessary authorisation before the end of 2020 - in which case your passportable activities are at a significant risk, both strategically and operationally.
The message is loud and clear - get moving now on your UK and / or EU authorisation!
Brexit is a big driver of our business. Following our co-hosting of the Brexit Ireland event on Tuesday 13th November 2018 in London, we have been inundated with requests for services and assistance from UK FCA regulated firms to advise them on both brexiting their to Ireland and other EU countries (including Lithuania, Malta, Amsterdam & more). Our team members are located in Ireland and the UK. We have this area covered with the latest news and views on how Brexit will impact UK firms that are at serious risk of losing their ability to continue passporting after 29 March 2018.
Following our event on 13th November 2018, two significant documents have been made public that you are probably hearing about:
1) The Withdrawal Treaty - click here for a copy
2) The Political Declaration - click here for a copy. Click here for Peter Oakes' comments on Linkedin.
Other useful Brexit resources with which we are involved include Fintech Ireland's Brexit & Ireland page and Brexit Ireland. Check them out. We'add other resources here. And of course, if you have a Financial Times account, bookmark FT Brexit.
Following our event on 13th November 2018, two significant documents have been made public that you are probably hearing about:
1) The Withdrawal Treaty - click here for a copy
2) The Political Declaration - click here for a copy. Click here for Peter Oakes' comments on Linkedin.
Other useful Brexit resources with which we are involved include Fintech Ireland's Brexit & Ireland page and Brexit Ireland. Check them out. We'add other resources here. And of course, if you have a Financial Times account, bookmark FT Brexit.
