Business licensing

Does your business need a licence

Start with what the business actually does. Holding customer funds, exchanging currencies or virtual assets, arranging deals in securities, lending money or offering games of chance are the activities regulators focus on. The same product can be regulated in one country and unregulated in another.

Where your customers are matters as much as where your company is. Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission, for example, requires centralised virtual asset trading platforms to be licensed if they carry on business in Hong Kong or actively market their services to Hong Kong investors. Operating without a licence is a criminal offence.

Two more Hong Kong examples: carrying on business as a money lender requires a licence under the Money Lenders Ordinance, and issuing a multi-purpose stored value facility requires a licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

We give you a written route assessment before any application work begins, so you know which licences apply and which do not.

What regulators look for

Regulators assess the people and the controls as much as the business model. Directors, owners and key staff must be fit and proper: honest, competent and financially sound. Many regimes require named, qualified people in roles such as responsible officer, compliance officer or money laundering reporting officer.

They also expect working systems: anti-money-laundering controls, customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, safeguarding of client assets, cyber security and complaint handling. Policies must describe what the business will actually do, and the regulator often tests this in interviews.

• Fit-and-proper directors, owners and key staff
• Minimum capital and, for some regimes, insurance or safeguarding
• Local presence: office, staff or resident officers where required
• Written policies and working compliance systems

Realistic timelines

Simple registrations can take a month or two. Full licences for payments, securities or virtual assets commonly take several months to over a year, depending on the regulator's workload and how complete the application is.

Most delays come from missing information or from policies that do not match the business plan. We check consistency across every document before submission, to avoid delays caused by missing or inconsistent information.

After the licence

A licence brings ongoing obligations: periodic returns, audited accounts, notifications of changes in owners or key staff, annual fees and inspections. Missing them can lead to fines, conditions or loss of the licence.

We set up a compliance calendar with every reporting and renewal date, and remind you in good time. Changes to directors or shareholders are checked against the regulator's approval rules before they are made.

Choosing where to be licensed

The right jurisdiction depends on where your customers are, which banks and partners you need, and how much substance you can build. A licence in a small jurisdiction can be quicker to obtain, but some banks, card schemes and counterparties give more weight to licences from larger regulators.

Licences do not usually travel. A licence in one country rarely lets you serve customers in another without a separate authorisation there. Within the EU, an institution authorised in its home member state can passport its authorised services to other member states, through a branch or cross-border services, under set conditions.

We compare the realistic options side by side: requirements, capital, local staff, timeline and running cost. You choose with the full picture in front of you.

• Where your customers are and how you market to them
• Which banks, acquirers and partners you need
• How much local substance and staff you can support
• Total running cost after the licence is granted