A new consultation paper on the DFSA Money Services Regime…well a clarification more than a major change actually.

Go on…

So there are clarifications on Payment Accounts, Stored Value and cash-out options.

Nice! Is there good news?

Very. Payment Accounts are now brought in line with similar jurisdictions worldwide, especially in the EU. Money service firms will be able to hold money for their Corporate clients (i.e. non-individuals) in (non-interest bearing) Payment Accounts so as to make third-party payments, receive payments, issue virtual pre-paid cards etc.

How much money?

Not specified, so can be anything (subject to approvals of course). Earlier, there was the US$ 5k limit, but it’s been clarified that this limit is for Issuance of Stored Value (for individual clients). That remains.

Ok…so what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that the US$5k limit didn’t make much sense for money service firms with corporate clients, and now that they can hold larger sums in Payment Accounts, they can issue multi-currency virtual IBANs and pre-paid cards, so in essence much more functionality!

Understood. What else?

Well there are some other changes, specifically cash-out options (if withdrawn in the UAE) from Stored Value Accounts, and other clarifications on Crypto Tokens and reporting mechanisms for Crowdfunding Platforms, all of which you can read here.

The new consultation paper clarifies the DFSA’s stance on Payment Accounts for corporate clients, which allows greater flexibility for money service businesses to offer multiple functionalities to their customers, including larger sums held in Payment Accounts, multi-currency virtual IBANs and issuance of pre-paid cards.

And also

Read more on the current (and updated) EMI regime in the DIFC!