Lysis designed and implemented a compliance monitoring framework for a UK-regulated EMI. The aim of the framework was to ensure ongoing compliance with the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMRs), including with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLRs).
Payment Services & Card/ Merchant Acquirers
A newly FCA regulated EMI in the UK
The EMI had just been authorised by the FCA and now needed to ensure its Compliance Monitoring Framework was fully embedded and operational.
Lysis had assisted the firm to design and document its Compliance Monitoring Framework during the authorisation process. The aim of the framework was to ensure ongoing compliance with the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMRs), including with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLRs) and the relevant industry standards and internal policies.
Lysis then developed a post-authorisation roll-out plan to ensure that the framework was operational across the firm:
• We trained relevant staff in their obligations under the plan. Staff obligations included ensuring the effective of real-time and periodic checks to detect non-compliance issues as they arise. The scope included areas like anti-money laundering (AML), data protection (e.g. GDPR), financial reporting, licensing and employee conduct.
• We supported our client to set up the relevant governance and reporting for compliance monitoring.
• We helped the firm to implement appropriate systems and manual processes and provided interim staff to resource the work while our client recruited.
We then conducted an initial review of how effectively the controls and monitoring were operating.
Subsequently we provided some of the monitoring services via a managed service arrangement, including client on-boarding and refresh and AML transaction monitoring and screening.
We also provided an MLRO support service.
Although the client is based in the US, they have European subsidiaries which include the UK and therefore required Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) registration. In order to obtain registration as a crypto asset firm in the U.K. they had to comply with specific FCA requirements.
Our client had a requirement to train some experienced operational staff in AML
Following a review from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2021, and a subsequent letter from the regulator, the client had to address a number of gaps that were identified by the regulator.