VASP Advisory
VASP◇◇◇MiCA

Bespoke Advisoryfor LicensedInstitutions.

00 — M&A · Licensing · Regulatory Advisory

VASP Advisory brokers the sale of regulated payment institutions — EMIs, MSBs, money transmitters, and crypto-asset service providers — and advises firms building licensed operations of their own. We are operators, not intermediaries: our partners have spent decades inside regulated financial services, applying for these licenses, holding them, and transacting the entities that carry them.

Explore the Practice

Practice Areas

  • Sell-Side M&A — Licensed Payment Institutions
  • Regulatory Change of Control
  • License Acquisition & Application Support
  • Virtual Asset & VASP Compliance
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Countries in the Partner Network
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Financial Centres Covered
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Regulatory Regimes Transacted
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Continents of Coverage

What we do

01 — Practice Areas

A deliberately narrow practice: the sale, purchase, and establishment of licensed financial institutions.

01

Sell-Side M&A of Licensed Institutions

We broker the sale of regulated payment institutions — EMIs, payment institutions, MSBs, money transmitters, and crypto-asset service providers — from anonymised teaser to completion, with every counterparty approved by you, by name.

02

Regulatory Change of Control

The change-of-control filing is where transactions in this market fail. We prepare and defend it ourselves — FCA, FINTRAC, FINMA, and EU equivalents — rather than handing it off and hoping.

03

License Acquisition & Application Support

For firms building a licensed operation rather than buying one: authorisation strategy, application preparation, and regulator correspondence, run by people who have been through it as applicants.

04

Virtual Asset & VASP Compliance

Registration and authorisation under MiCA, CASP, and national VASP regimes, and the compliance architecture regulators expect to see behind them.

05

Cross-Border Payments Licensing

Multi-jurisdictional licensing structures for firms operating across borders — sequenced deliberately, not accumulated haphazardly.

Confidential by design

02 — Discretion

Three engraved chrome blocks: MiCA · EU, Multi-Jurisdiction, Cross-Border
01 — Confidentiality

No engagement we take is announced, and no client we serve is named. Work of this kind is done quietly, or not at all.

No names, no announcements

02 — Counterparties

There is no auction. Every buyer or seller we approach is disclosed to you first, and nothing identifying leaves our hands before an NDA is signed.

You approve every name

03 — References

Client references are provided privately, with our clients' prior consent, once we know who is asking and why.

Available on request

Why clients choose us

03 — Why VASP Advisory

01

Operators, Not Intermediaries

Our partners have spent decades, combined, inside regulated financial services — applying for these licenses, holding them, being examined against them, and transacting the entities that carry them. We are not a bank running a process.

02

We Own the Change of Control

The regulatory change-of-control filing is the step that kills deals in this market. We prepare and defend it ourselves rather than handing it to outside counsel and hoping.

03

A Network, Not a Listing

Licensed entities do not trade through listings. They trade through relationships — with founders and CEOs of payment companies, heads of M&A inside the large fintech groups, the funds behind them, and sitting and former regulators.

04

Discretion by Design

No auctions, no announcements. A shortlist you approve by name, an anonymised teaser, and nothing identifying released before an NDA is signed.

Where we operate

04 — Markets

Regulatory expertise across 20+ jurisdictions on 5 continents.

UKEULithuaniaBelgiumNetherlandsIrelandMaltaUSACanadaSouth AfricaNigeriaKenyaGhanaSingaporeHong KongUAEMiCAPSD2EMIMSBFINTRACVASP
Coverage

Europe

UK · EU (MiCA, EMI, PSD2) · Lithuania · Belgium · Netherlands · Ireland

06 →0
Coverage

North America

USA (MSB, State Licenses) · Canada (MSB, FINTRAC)

02 →1
Coverage

Africa

South Africa · Nigeria · Kenya · Ghana

04 →2
Coverage

Asia

Singapore · Hong Kong · UAE

03 →3

From mandate to completion

05 — Process

01

Teaser & NDA

An anonymised profile goes to qualified counterparties only. Your identity is released on signature of an NDA — not before. Typically one to two weeks.

02

Memorandum & Offers

Information memorandum, management sessions, and indicative offers. You approve every name on the list. Typically three to four weeks.

03

Diligence & SPA

Regulatory, financial, and AML diligence run in parallel rather than in sequence, through to the share purchase agreement. Typically four to eight weeks.

04

Change of Control

The long pole: typically around three months at the FCA, comparable or slightly longer at FINTRAC, FINMA, and EU regulators. We prepare and defend the filing ourselves.

Common questions

06 — FAQ

Selling a licensed entity — or building one?

07 — Enquire

A first conversation is confidential and costs nothing. If you are considering a sale, we will tell you within a week whether we believe the entity is sellable — and at roughly what.