Every compliance officer I have met believes they are protected because they escalated the issue. They wrote the memo. They flagged the risk. They documented the gap. They sent the email. They copied senior management. They have a paper trail. And they assume that paper trail will protect them if Read more…
Very often, compliance leaders ask me how to tell whether their CEO simply dislikes the compliance function or has lost confidence in them personally. It is an important distinction. When a CEO sees compliance as a business obstacle, the problem may be how the function is positioned, how risks are Read more…
In the FinTech environment, risks and gaps are everywhere. Unfortunately, many regulatory professionals, risk experts and compliance officers believe that informing management about risks, escalating issues, documenting gaps and tracking remediation commitments is a valid strategy for protecting themselves from personal liability. It isn’t always. In some situations, documenting and Read more…
I am really happy and excited when my network contacts or blog readers or even random FinTech enthusiasts reach out to me and ask their questions. Please keep them coming – this is how I learn about your most common concerns and challenges and can produce better and more relevant Read more…
Today, I wanted to share with you some of the most common scenarios where FinTech license applications get stuck. 😉 Curious? – Read on! 👓 Not knowing how to respond to broad open-ended questions such as “describe the flow of data within your organization”, “describe how do you detect risks related to Read more…
Let’s talk about the relatively new phenomena of licensing pre-applications and how to make them go quickly. ⏩ License pre-application phases are introduced by many (but not all) regulators as a formal step before you can apply for any license or authorization. Regulators don’t want companies to just send them an Read more…
I’d like to compare the pros and cons of buying a regulated entity versus applying for your own license. The main advantage of buying a licensed company versus creating one and applying for the license is that you can continue to operate an existing business. With the new entity, you Read more…
Average payments or e-money license or money services or a VASP regulatory approval takes about 8-12-18 months. And actually only 10-15% of companies who apply get there, the vast majority of the applicants either abandon their applications, run out of money or get an unfavorable prognosis from the regulators and Read more…
Today, Yana is going to share the pros and cons and different approaches to buying an already established FinTech company versus starting a new one and applying for your own license. Yana is in the middle of a project that actually involved both, so she feels she has a unique Read more…