Registering a FinTech project – what to prepare for?

Thinking about expanding your business in Europe, Asia or the USA? Dissatisfied with the tax regime for your company? Confused by new legislative requirements? Yes, indeed, FinTech sphere does not stand still and is developing dynamically, every day it is facing new and new restrictions and rules.

Registration of a foreign company is one of the first steps to start your project. We know that you
immediately have a lot of questions: which country is more suitable for creating FinTech business, how long this process will take, what are the pros and cons.

Usually, registration of a foreign company takes from a few days to 2 weeks. It all depends on how quickly documents are collected and all verification steps are passed.

In this article we’ll talk about where it is better to register your project, taking into account such important factors as the type of activity, company management, budget and more.

Let’s take a look at the general trends in the financial market that you need to consider to start the FinTech project.

Offshore jurisdictions are losing their popularity.

All entrepreneurs dream about a favorable tax regime and favorable conditions for doing business.

The reason offshore companies are not so popular is because banks will not open an account with a company that is registered in an offshore zone.

Banks require an expanded list of documents to undergo due diligence of the company and, accordingly, it will not be possible to hide information about this type of activity or about the beneficiaries of the company.

Also, now it is required for the company to have a substance. To confirm it, the company must have an office, a local director (not nominee), empowered to make independent decisions, a compliant officer or other employees, a corporate website etc. All this confirms the conduct of real business in a particular jurisdiction.

A company without a substance always has less chances to open a corporate account, as banks take increased risks by working with such companies and, therefore, are subject to more rigorous review by the regulator. For this reason, banks often refuse to open bank accounts.

These requirements complicate the procedure of work in offshore companies and, accordingly, it makes no sense to conduct their activities in these jurisdictions.

Business security and transparency.

A company must be reliable and responsible for its activities to customers.

Since the beginning of 2019, the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) of the European Parliament has entered into force. Its goal is to create a more even, transparent and open payment market in Europe. The result will be a global market change in which banks lose their influence in favor of FinTech companies.

Nowadays, customers are increasingly interested in high-quality, fast and cheap services, therefore obtaining payment licenses such as EMI (Electronic Money Institution) and PSP (Payment Service Provider), as well as crypto licenses, continues to be a trend in the field of financial services.

Everyone knows the rules and requirements of Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering. A
financial institution must identify its client and request additional documents to confirm money. Also, it is important to pay enough attention to clients – residents of countries with insufficient AML, where corruption and crime are at a high level.

Specialists of our company recommend you to choose the country that will allow you to take into account the characteristics of the business and select the most favorable conditions for its development.

In general, FinTech project registration is a difficult and painstaking process, therefore, in order to achieve the desired result and not get additional loads and difficulties in the process of the company’s activities, you need to carefully prepare.

SBSB specialists will be happy to accompany you in creating a turnkey project, from idea to its full
implementation. We know all the legal subtleties of FinTech projects, and, as the slogan of our company says: we will be happy to work, so you can relax.