Best jurisdiction for EMI outside Europe

[John Cockle]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a comfortable jurisdiction outside Europe to set up a new company and acquire an EMI license. We'd like to focus on Africa (mainly SAR) first.

So this EMI licence should provide opportunity to work in South Africa and preferably in other African countries (at least 3-5 more). Ability to work in other regions (Asia, Latam) will be very nice.

What jurisdiction would you recommend in this regard?

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

From whom?

The most common one is the Lithuanian Central Bank and I dont think its feasible to‍ set this up outside of EEA.

 

[John Cockle]

From whom - this is the question )

EEA is out of interest.

 

[Don]

Maybe this is what you need.

https://www.gfmag.com/magazine/may-2022/first-e-money-license-issued-west-african-fintech

 

[Martin Everson]

Africa and South America does⁠ not work like EU. There is no right to operate in those sovereign countries like⁤ EU has passporting to other member states.

Do you actually need︀ an EMI license or will a payment service provider (PSP) license do? You can google︁ the difference between the two if you don't already know.

Whats your budget?

 

[John Cockle]

Yes, we need an EMI license as⁠ we want to hold clients money.

The budget is not an issue.

 

[Sols]

EMI licenses in EU work because they are recognised across the whole union. However, you‌ can get an EMI license in EU and accept customers from your target countries. Doing‍ so might be fine to your home regulator, but technically not permitted without additional license⁠ in the countries where your customers are based.

Regardless of where you get your license,⁤ access to banking is going to be the hardest part. For example, there are a⁣ lot of EMIs licensed in EU that can only access SEPA for EUR transfer and⁢ nothing else.

I'd look into Mauritius, UK, and Singapore for licensing. But the license will︀ mean nothing without ability to access the financial systems of your customer locations, so make︁ sure you can solve that as well.

 

[jkl197]

did you consider Mauritius?
EMI business is more complicated than most people think, do you‌ have strong connections and money critical mass to open accounts with the clearing/intermediary banks?

 

[John Cockle]

As Martin Everson said above there is no other jurisdiction except⁠ for the EU (and probably West African region) that could give a legal option to⁤ work outside a county of license origin. Mauritius is not an exception.

 

[JackAlabama]

Inside the country which you target first. Since you have budget-is-not-an-issue, it⁢ is easy.

 

[John Cockle]

Easy to set up new EMIs in every target country?

 

[Konstanz]

You can try set-up in Caribbean.

 

[JackAlabama]

Since you have no passporting option like in EU, it is the only way‍ to do it, unless you find someone offering umbrellas but these are normally only in⁠ developed markets.

 

[uplana]

What would be the requirement to the company for setting up this EMI in the‌ EU ?