Tag Archive for: financial risks

Brexit Drives Financial Institutions from UK to EU License

20-03-2020 | treasuryXL | Enigma Consulting

Since the UK left the European Union on January 31st, Brexit is a fact. Currently both sides are in a transition phase that lasts until the end of this year. For now, it remains unclear how the future relationship between the EU and the UK will be shaped after 2020.

It is therefore important that financial institutions prepare themselves, as from 2021 onwards, bottlenecks can arise in cross-border services between the EU and the UK.

On the 31st January 2020 the UK left the EU on the basis of the agreed withdrawal agreement. This prevented a no-deal Brexit on that date and led to the transition period until the end of 2020. During this period, EU law will continue to apply to the UK in all areas, including the financial passport rights that are part of the Single European Payment Area.

At the same time there is uncertainty about the situation after the transition period. In the coming period the EU and the UK will negotiate the design of the future relationship, including financial services. The basis for this is the political declaration that the EU and the UK agreed upon as part of the withdrawal agreement. Starting point for financial services is the possibility to make so-called EU-equivalence decisions with regard to third countries.

What is meant by equivalence?

Within the European Union, a single market exists that guarantees the free movement of goods, capital, services and labour. These four freedoms make life easier for international actors on this single market. It allows financial institutions to offer their services to more than 450 million consumers, living in any EU member state.

Although Brexit results in the UK leaving the EU, there might be a last resort. The EU allows companies that are not based in any of its member states to access the single market if the legal regime for a certain sector in a third country is declared to be equivalent.

Act rather than react

It has been agreed that the EU will carry out equivalence assessments with the UK (and vice versa) in the first half of this year. These assessments are aimed to finished in June this year.

However, it is still unclear which UK sectors the EU will (possibly) declare equivalent, and if so, when that happens. Even if UK regulations and supervision were to be declared equivalent in many different sectors, it would not correspond to the high level of market access that UK financial institutions currently have to offer their services in the EU. The scope of the equivalence regime is limited and excludes most of the core banking and financial activities. Deposit-taking, lending, payment services and investment services will not be granted access to the European single market without having an EU license.

Does your business need a DNB license? You need to take these 8 steps

07-02-2020 | treasuryXL | Enigma Consulting

Anyone that provides payment services in the Netherlands must either hold the appropriate licence issued by DNB or be excepted or exempted from the licensing requirement. A payment service provider may start operations only after DNB has issued its licence or after it has entered the provider in the register as an exempt payment service provider, unless it is excepted from the licensing requirement by law.

Do you need help in your DNB License application process?

The consultants at Enigma are highly experienced in license applications. Their clients often have widely divergent reasons for applying for a licence. For example:

  • Innovative companies that wish to utilise the opportunities offered by new payment rules for account information services and payment initiation services, such as fintech businesses and accounting software providers.
  • UK-based businesses that have decided to apply for a license in the Netherlands and to serve Europe from here because of the consequences of Brexit.
  • Asian and American companies that wish to use the Netherlands as a base for setting up their worldwide Payment Gateway.
  • Companies that can no longer utilise exceptions that were possible in PSD1 because of PSD2 and are therefore applying for a license to operate as a payment service provider.

Enigma has a multidisciplinary team, which offers the benefit of us being able to offer all areas of expertise required for license applications. The result is an application of which all elements meet the quality criteria of the supervisory body, which means a quicker assessment and granting of a license by the DNB.

You no longer need to be a bank to offer payment services. The Dutch Act on Financial Supervision applies in the Netherlands for the purpose of increasing competition and protecting consumers. This law makes it possible for payment institutions to offer payment services.

The law differentiates between 8 different types of payment service providers.

There are the classic payment service providers and electronic money institutions, but since the introduction of the PSD2 European payment guideline, there are also newer variants of account information service providers (AISPs) and payment initiation service providers (PISPs). Payment services offered include the administration of bank accounts, the transfer, deposit or receipt of funds, or the issuing or acceptance of payment instruments (such as cards).

So when is a licence required for a service? And what are the criteria that must be met?

A successful licence application for each type of payment institution is a question of thorough preparation and adequate quality assurance.

The steps required for an efficient, successful application at a glance:

1. Check whether a licence is required to offer the service

A payment service does not necessarily require a licence. Exceptions include services in which payment is made with a payment instrument with limited options for use. Neither is a license required if transactions take place in cash only and no bank account is involved.

2. If a licence is required, check whether an exemption applies

If step one indicates that a licence is required, check whether exemptions apply. A number of conditions need to be met in order to make use of that exemption. We have listed 3 below.

  1. Payment services are intended exclusively for people living in the Netherlands
  2. The monthly volume is less than 3 million Euros
  3. Asset segregation is managed by means of a trust account, bank guarantee, or comparable guarantee

If the conditions for an exemption appear to be met, then this also needs to be applied for from DNB. This application is also subject to considerable requirements. If these requirements can be met and the application for a licence has been submitted, the DNB will assess whether an exemption should be granted. If so, they will enter the exempted payment service provider into the public register.

3. Prepare the file and make the necessary organisational changes

Having completed the first 2 steps, it is clear that a licence is required and that the service does not qualify for an exemption. In that case, the payment institution must meet various criteria to be able to offer its services. These include:

  1. Demonstrating the reliability and suitability of policy makers
  2. The integrity of the company’s operations
  3. Controlled governance
  4. Surety of the funds
  5. Evaluation of the day-to-day policy makers
  6. Minimum equity and solvency requirements
  7. No Objection certificate

This is about managing operational processes and business risks, such as safeguarding the funds of the payment institution’s clients. Policy and procedures, such as a client acceptance policy, transaction monitoring, a compliance charter, and a procedure for reporting irregular transactions need to be formulated. In most cases, a ‘risk management’ policy needs to be formulated and a risk & compliance officer needs to be appointed.

4. Submit the application to De Nederlandsche Bank

All the supporting documentation for the application then needs to be submitted to the DNB. The application form that must to be completed and signed serves as the basis. The DNB decides whether to grant a licence within three months of receipt of a license application from a payment institution. Note that the three months only start once all the necessary documentation has been received. There are costs involved in applying for a licence from the DNB.

Enigma Consulting’s experience is that the DNB usually asks various questions and that the lead time for a licence application normally exceeds 3 months.

5. Implement the new policy and corresponding procedures in the organisation

When compiling the file, the implementation of specific policy and corresponding procedures in the payment institution is already a big step. Ensure these activities have actually been implemented by the company before the licence is granted. Do not underestimate this process, because depending on the size of the organisation, this step can be moderately to very resource intensive.

Experience

Thanks to Enigma Consulting’s extensive experience of the application procedure and short lines of communication with DNB, they can advise and support you in each step of the application process, whether it involves an application for an exemption, or a licence for a payment services provider, electronic money institution, account information services provider, or payment initiation services provider.

There is also the option of temporary deployment of a risk & compliance officer to share best practice and train your staff internally. Enigma possesses considerable experience in all stages of the application process. They can assist you in compiling the file and in setting up your organisational processes.
Contact Enigma Consulting with no obligation if you would like to discuss your objectives.

Geert Blom
Senior Consultant at Enigma Consulting

License application for payment services in 5 steps

| 27-9-2019 | treasuryXL | Enigma Consulting

License applications from DNB: Enigma knows what is required!

If a business processes payment transactions or wants to become an account information service provider (AISP) or payment initiation service provider (PISP), it requires a license from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

The consultants at Enigma are highly experienced in license applications. Our clients often have widely divergent reasons for applying for a licence. For example:

  • Innovative companies that wish to utilise the opportunities offered by new payment rules for account information services and payment initiation services, such as fintech businesses and accounting software providers.
  • UK-based businesses that have decided to apply for a license in the Netherlands and to serve Europe from here because of the consequences of Brexit.
  • Asian and American companies that wish to use the Netherlands as a base for setting up their worldwide Payment Gateway.
  • Companies that can no longer utilise exceptions that were possible in PSD1 because of PSD2 and are therefore applying for a license to operate as a payment service provider.

We have a multidisciplinary team, which offers the benefit of us being able to offer all areas of expertise required for license applications. The result is an application of which all elements meet the quality criteria of the supervisory body, which means a quicker assessment and granting of a license by the DNB.

You no longer need to be a bank to offer payment services. The Dutch Act on Financial Supervision applies in the Netherlands for the purpose of increasing competition and protecting consumers. This law makes it possible for payment institutions to offer payment services.

The law differentiates between 8 different types of payment service providers.

There are the classic payment service providers and electronic money institutions, but since the introduction of the PSD2 European payment guideline, there are also newer variants of account information service providers (AISPs) and payment initiation service providers (PISPs). Payment services offered include the administration of bank accounts, the transfer, deposit or receipt of funds, or the issuing or acceptance of payment instruments (such as cards).

So when is a licence required for a service? And what are the criteria that must be met?

A successful licence application for each type of payment institution is a question of thorough preparation and adequate quality assurance.

The steps required for an efficient, successful application at a glance:

1. Check whether a licence is required to offer the service

A payment service does not necessarily require a licence. Exceptions include services in which payment is made with a payment instrument with limited options for use. Neither is a license required if transactions take place in cash only and no bank account is involved.

2. If a licence is required, check whether an exemption applies

If step one indicates that a licence is required, check whether exemptions apply. A number of conditions need to be met in order to make use of that exemption. We have listed 3 below.

  1. Payment services are intended exclusively for people living in the Netherlands
  2. The monthly volume is less than 3 million Euros
  3. Asset segregation is managed by means of a trust account, bank guarantee, or comparable guarantee

If the conditions for an exemption appear to be met, then this also needs to be applied for from DNB. This application is also subject to considerable requirements. If these requirements can be met and the application for a licence has been submitted, the DNB will assess whether an exemption should be granted. If so, they will enter the exempted payment service provider into the public register.

3. Prepare the file and make the necessary organisational changes

Having completed the first 2 steps, it is clear that a licence is required and that the service does not qualify for an exemption. In that case, the payment institution must meet various criteria to be able to offer its services. These include:

  1. Demonstrating the reliability and suitability of policy makers
  2. The integrity of the company’s operations
  3. Controlled governance
  4. Surety of the funds
  5. Evaluation of the day-to-day policy makers
  6. Minimum equity and solvency requirements
  7. No Objection certificate

This is about managing operational processes and business risks, such as safeguarding the funds of the payment institution’s clients. Policy and procedures, such as a client acceptance policy, transaction monitoring, a compliance charter, and a procedure for reporting irregular transactions need to be formulated. In most cases, a ‘risk management’ policy needs to be formulated and a risk & compliance officer needs to be appointed.

4. Submit the application to De Nederlandsche Bank

All the supporting documentation for the application then needs to be submitted to the DNB. The application form that must to be completed and signed serves as the basis. The DNB decides whether to grant a licence within three months of receipt of a license application from a payment institution. Note that the three months only start once all the necessary documentation has been received. There are costs involved in applying for a licence from the DNB.

Enigma Consulting’s experience is that the DNB usually asks various questions and that the lead time for a licence application normally exceeds 3 months.

5. Implement the new policy and corresponding procedures in the organisation

When compiling the file, the implementation of specific policy and corresponding procedures in the payment institution is already a big step. Ensure these activities have actually been implemented by the company before the licence is granted. Do not underestimate this process, because depending on the size of the organisation, this step can be moderately to very resource intensive.

Experience

Thanks to Enigma Consulting’s extensive experience of the application procedure and short lines of communication with DNB, they can advise and support you in each step of the application process, whether it involves an application for an exemption, or a licence for a payment services provider, electronic money institution, account information services provider, or payment initiation services provider.

There is also the option of temporary deployment of a risk & compliance officer to share best practice and train your staff internally. Enigma possesses considerable experience in all stages of the application process. They can assist you in compiling the file and in setting up your organisational processes.
Contact Enigma Consulting with no obligation if you would like to discuss your objectives..

Geert Blom
Senior Consultant at Enigma Consulting

IBOR phase out – a serious challenge

| 17-9-2019 | treasuryXL | Enigma Consulting

For the last 40 years IBOR (interbank offered rates, including LIBOR and later also EURIBOR) have been a fact of daily life in the financial services industry. They have been the benchmark for lending, hedge contracts, current accounts, valuation models etc. for a long time till the regulators, central banks and market participants decided to seek alternatives as from 2012.

Besides the switch to new reference rates, it now seems that alternative rates will be fixed afterwards based on a daily fixing component while the LIBOR Rates are now published at the beginning of each interest period.

Transitioning to alternative rates and calculation methods will be challenging, and it will have serious implications for both financial institutions as their customers on how lending and hedge contracts are priced and how treasurers manage risks and their working capital.

Although a lot of about detailed timing and specifications of the new reference rates is still unclear, we strongly recommend our clients  to be pro-active and not to follow the ‘wait and see” approach as the impact is expected to be substantial and the demand for resources to support these changes will increase in the coming months.

Bas Kolenburg: “Although this transition seems to be in the distant future, now is the time to start preparing! The impact can be huge….”

Enigma Consulting support both financial institutions and their clients to adapt to these new market circumstances. For financial institutions, Enigma Consulting provides project management support for the migration activities and client communication. For (corporate) clients, Enigma Consulting is performing impact analyses, that result in an action plan/ heat maps for the short and medium term. These action plans can then be used to prepare the organization for the expected changes and communicate with internal and external stakeholders such as your banks, market data suppliers, TMS & other systems suppliers and accountants.

 

Senior Consultant at Enigma Consulting