News & Resources

    FCA Safeguarding rules

    REP027 Explained: What UK Payment and E-Money Firms Need to Do Now

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    The FCA has introduced a major change to safeguarding oversight for UK payments and e-money firms. Starting 7 May 2026,
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    AML failures and compliance risks beyond financial penalties

    Beyond the Fine: What Really Happens When AML Goes Wrong

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    AML fines often dominate headlines, with regulators across the globe issuing increasingly large penalties for failures in financial crime controls.
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    AI and compliance

    FCA Signals Strong Support for Fintech Innovation and AI-Driven Future

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    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has shared its plans for the next stage of fintech innovation, focusing on artificial intelligence,
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    consumer duty

    FCA: Consumer Duty Board Reports Improving, but Further Progress Needed

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    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a speech by Jonathan Pearson outlining progress made in the second year of
    Read More >
    FCA open finance

    FCA sets out vision for open finance to empower consumers and businesses

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    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its vision for open finance, outlining how consumers and businesses could gain greater
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    FCA

    FCA’s Next Phase of Regulation: What It Means for Payments & E-Money Firms

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out its 2026/27 work programme, outlining a clear shift towards becoming a smarter,
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    Key Takeaways from the FCA’s Latest Payments Speech: What Firms Should Be Preparing For

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    At the MoneyLIVE Summit 2026, David Geale, Executive Director of Payments and Digital Finance at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
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    financial crime fine

    FCA fines for FinCrime failings more than double in 2025

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    The value of FCA fines for Financial Crime failings has more than doubled in 2025 for the 2nd year in
    Read More >
    SARs

    UKFIU Annual Report shows Denied DAML Requests up 59% [Infographic]

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    The UKFIU has published its SARs Annual Report which shows that Funds Denied from Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) requests
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    AML and Financial Crime training that delivers real business value, not just box-ticking

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    For many organisations, AML and financial crime training is something that simply must be done. It’s mandatory, often repetitive, and
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    Resources

    The registration process for SEMIs is cheaper and more straightforward than authorisation for Authorised E-Money Institutions (AEMIs), however there are additional restrictions placed on the activities of SEMIs.

    The FCA would require similar information to an AEMI application but in less detail and would pay close attention to the skills and experience of the business’ senior team.

    • A SEMI’s average outstanding e-money must never exceed €5 million.
    • There are no passporting rights. SEMI’s products can only be offered within the UK.
    • SEMIs can provide unrelated payment services but only if the average monthly total of payment transactions does not exceed €3 million, on a rolling 12 month basis.

    To determine their capital requirements, SEMIs are split into two categories. For those whose average outstanding e-money is less than €500,000 and who do not predict their average to reach that point, there is no minimum capital requirement.

    For those whose average falls above that limit, there is a minimum capital requirement of 2% of their average outstanding e-money.

    The FCA charge application fees as well as on-going supervision fees for authorised entities.

    In addition, there are minimum requirements for on-going capital for authorised firms, although not all SEMIs will be required to meet minimum capital requirements (see above).