BBVA Private Banking: three hubs for Latin America and a crypto line
BBVA Private Banking — €172bn in Spain and Zurich–Miami–Madrid hubs: the Global Wealth tiering (from €500k), the Swiss crypto line since 2021, and the outcome of the Sabadell bid.
Crypto assets
KBank Private Banking: Thailand's private banking leader
Official entry THB 50m; AUM THB 883bn and ~35% market share; Lombard Odier alliance since 2014; DPA deposit protection THB 1m.
Garanti BBVA Private Banking: Turkey's BBVA-owned private-banking leader
Turkey's second-largest private bank, 85.97% owned by BBVA: TL 4 547.8 bn assets, TL 1.33 tn asset-management AuM, SDIF deposit cover TRY 1.2 m from 2026.
Syz Group: the family-owned Geneva bank with a digital-assets line
Syz Group (Banque Syz) — the family-owned Geneva bank with CHF 27.9bn: Swiss-only booking, multi-custody from CHF 10m, a digital-assets line with the BTC Alpha Fund, and the 2020 FINMA reprimand.
The EU DLT Pilot Regime: DLT MTF, DLT SS and DLT TSS
The EU regime for trading and settling tokenised securities: who gets a permission, the €500m, €1bn and €6bn caps, exemptions from MiFID II and CSDR, the ESMA register and the 2025 Commission proposal.
Regulatory Business Plan and Programme of Operations
What regulators read in a business plan and programme of operations under PSD2, MiCA, FCA, MAS and SFC: forecast horizon, stress scenarios, wind-down plans, RFIs and refusals.
Offshore Crypto Licences: Cayman, BVI, Bermuda and Seychelles
Cayman, BVI, Bermuda and Seychelles VASP regimes compared: status, capital, fees, local presence, travel rule and why none opens access to EU or UK clients.
Hong Kong: the new virtual-asset dealing and custody licences
Hong Kong VA dealing and custody licences under the AMLO: Type 1 scope, private-key test, HK$5 million and HK$10 million capital, no deeming; bill due Q4 2026.
Financial Licences: How to Choose, Obtain and Maintain One
Which product needs a PI, EMI, CASP, investment firm or bank licence; the EU, UK, Asia, UAE and US; capital from €20,000 to €5 million, FCA processing times, entry without own licence and EU sanctions for Russian UBOs.
CASP Licence in Bulgaria: FSC Authorisation under MiCA
How the FSC licenses crypto-asset service providers in Bulgaria under MiCA: €50,000–150,000 capital, fees from €5,112.92, the end of NRA registrations and the EU sanctions perimeter.
Bulgaria's Financial Licences: BNB, FSC and the EU Passport
Map of Bulgarian licences: bank, EMI and PI at the BNB; CASP, investment firm, ManCo and insurer at the FSC. EU capital minimums, 2026 register counts, the euro and EU sanctions limits on ownership.
Crypto Banks and Custodians: Where a Private Holder Keeps Coins and Receives Fiat
Eighteen crypto banks and qualified custodians compared on licence, bankruptcy treatment of client coins, entry thresholds, fiat rails and published fees.
Crypto Licences by Jurisdiction: A Map of Twelve Regimes
MiCA CASP, VARA, ADGM, DIFC, SFC VATP, MAS DTSP, US BitLicense, FCA 2027, FINMA, AIFC, Japan and Korea compared on capital, custody, retail and travel rule.
Crypto-Asset Tax Reporting: Who Reports What to Tax Authorities
Three reporting circuits for crypto-assets: the CARF perimeter and commitment waves as at the list edition of 14 September 2026, DAC8 and the first exchange by 30 September 2027, the amended CRS, Form 1099-DA, UK SI 2025/744 and Spanish Modelos 172, 173 and 721.
Japan and Korea: payment and crypto licences
Licensing in Japan and South Korea: funds transfer tiers, prepaid issuers, JPYC and JPYSC stablecoins, crypto moving into FIEA, Korea's VAUPA and EFTA, real-name accounts and 2024–2026 enforcement.
Issuing ARTs and EMTs under MiCA: the Token Issuer Regime
Titles III and IV of MiCA from the issuer's side: the ART/EMT test, Article 21 authorisation vs the Article 48 EMI route, own funds and 30% deposit floor, redemption at par, significant-token caps.
Card Scheme Rules: Chargebacks, Interchange and Merchant Monitoring
How the Visa and Mastercard rulebooks create obligations: dispute deadlines, 2026 VAMP, ECM and BRAM thresholds, interchange caps in the EU, US and UK, scheme fees and 3-D Secure liability shift.
Licence Withdrawal and Wind-Down: What Happens to Client Money
Client money at an EMI, payment institution, MSB or crypto platform when the licence goes: withdrawal, wind-down and insolvency, the safeguarding pool and the 65% average shortfall on FCA data.
India and Brazil: the RBI and BCB payment regimes
PA and PA-CB licensing in India, the four Brazilian payment institution types, UPI and Pix access, zero MDR economics, RBI data localisation and the new PSAV regime for virtual assets.
Money Transmitter Licenses in the US: Fifty Licenses Instead of One
No federal money transmission license exists in the US: MTMA implementation, state exemptions, bond and capital rules, crypto regimes and 18 U.S.C. 1960.
The MiCA CASP Licence: Procedure, Cost and Choosing a Jurisdiction
Annex IV capital of €50k–150k or 25% of overheads under Article 67, a 25+40 working-day clock that runs 9–18 months in practice, and 379 date-filtered ESMA register records at 25 October 2026.
Hong Kong: the Stablecoins Ordinance — the HKMA Issuer Licence and the Limits of the Regime
Cap. 656 since 1 Aug 2025: HKD 25m capital, one-business-day redemption, 36 applications and two licences by 10 Apr 2026 — who must license and who may sell.
Travel Rule: Two Regimes, Divergent Thresholds and the Data That Travels With a Transfer
The Travel Rule for bank and crypto transfers: FATF R.16 and R.15, data fields, thresholds (zero in the EU, £800 in the UK, USD 3,000 in the US, AED 3,500 in Dubai), self-hosted wallets.
US Financial and Crypto Licenses: Three Axes of Choice
Three axes decide a US regime: federal or state, deposit status, and Fed settlement access. Charters, ILCs, SPDIs, MTLs and the GENIUS Act from 18 Jan 2027.
Singapore's DTSP Regime: Why a Singapore-Registered Crypto Company Must Licence or Leave
Since 30 June 2025 a Singapore entity serving only offshore crypto clients needs a DTSP licence MAS says it will generally not grant. Routes, costs, penalties.
NYDFS: BitLicense and the New York Trust Charter — Two Regimes for US Crypto
26 BitLicenses and 13 trust charters as of August 2026, an eight-coin Greenlist, 226.5m in penalties and the OCC charter migration reshaping New York after the GENIUS Act.
Sanctions Screening at a Financial Operator: The Discipline That Holds Payments Together
The EU's 21st package of 23 July 2026, OFAC's sham-transactions guidance and a USD 275m penalty: how sanctions screening works and why payments stall.
Fintech: licences, banking infrastructure, payments and stablecoins
Fintech regulation and operating infrastructure: licence selection, banking and safeguarding, acquiring, sanctions controls, stablecoins, crypto custody and regional regulatory regimes.
Singapore's PSA Payment Licences: Money-Changing, SPI, MPI and the Seven Regulated Services
How MAS sorts payment firms into three licence classes, what the 3/6/5 million SGD thresholds really measure, and what safeguarding, capital and security actually cost.
Compliance Stack for a Licensed Operator: Roles, Policies, Systems and Audit
How a regulated firm's AML/CTF and sanctions programme works in the UK, EU, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE and the US: roles, BWRA, scoring, monitoring, SARs, records, audit and fines.