About the data

Who compiles this

LicenceMap is compiled by the group chief executive of a digital assets and payments group operating across the UK, EU, US and Latin America, with senior, direct accountability to regulators in five jurisdictions, including the FCA, Banco de Portugal, the Bank of Lithuania and Mexico's CNBV. He has taken VASP and CASP regimes through the MiCA transition, overseen the licensing, purchase and sale of regulated entities, and holds board-level ownership of regulator-grade wind-down planning. The comparisons here are built by someone who sits across the table from these regulators, not someone who has only read their handbooks.

Why the operator's identity stays unnamed, and the interactive coverage map, are on the about page.

How entries are compiled

Every entry in LicenceMap is compiled from primary sources, legislation, regulator handbooks, official fee schedules and published guidance. Each data point carries a last-verified date and a source reference. Regulator fees, capital thresholds, statutory timelines and dates are primary-sourced; the professional-fee portions of application and ongoing cost figures are realistic market estimates, not quotes, treat them as planning ranges. When a regime changes, the entry is updated and subscribers are notified. Nothing is published until it has been verified. Methodology note (not per-row): several EEA states run a lighter small/exempt-e-money-institution registration tier alongside full authorised-EMI status (as the UK's SEMI does). This dataset profiles the authorised-EMI route only, consistently across all EEA rows, so this is a deliberate scope choice rather than a missing tier. The baseline-deepening patch (emi-baseline-deepening-patch.json) already confirms which of the 24 states have a locally-confirmed small-EMI equivalent where the research found one (see per-country licence_type overrides). Cost model: the total-cost-of-licensing calculator models one stated representative scenario per jurisdiction over three years. Headline totals are cash spend only; minimum capital is shown separately as money you must hold, not spend. Regulator fees and capital minimums are primary-sourced; professional and substance costs are market estimates carried as ranges, and totals sum the lows and highs independently, so ranges are honestly wide rather than falsely tight. Year one charges a full year of annual costs, because substance must usually exist before authorisation. Amounts are stored in their original currency and converted at dated reference rates. Totals cover the components listed only.

What is sourced and what is estimated

Regulator fees, capital thresholds, statutory timelines and dates come from primary sources and are cited on every cell. The professional-fee portions of "application cost" and "ongoing cost" (legal, consulting, audit, compliance build) are realistic market estimates, not quotes. Treat them as planning ranges: your own figures will vary with scope and provider.

Verification, visibly

Every data cell in the matrix carries two pieces of metadata: a last verified date and a source reference (legislation, regulator handbook, official fee schedule, or published guidance). Both are shown on jurisdiction pages. If a cell has not been verified, it says so, we would rather show you an honest gap than a confident guess.

When sources conflict

Primary sources do not always agree. A regulator's own register, a national gazette and a market tracker can each report a different figure for the same thing, often because they were published on different dates or count slightly different populations. When that happens we do not quietly pick one and move on. The cell is flagged disputed, and the entry sets out who reports what and why the figures differ, so you can weigh it yourself. Where a figure looks credible but we are still confirming it against the primary source, the cell is flagged under review instead, meaning it may still change. Every currently-flagged figure is collected on the disputed and under-review page, and the full set of references the dataset draws on is listed on the sources page.

When regimes change

Regulation in these spaces moves quickly, MiCA transitions, e-money rule changes, fee revisions, new circulars. When a covered regime changes, the affected entries are updated, re-dated, and summarised in the "Recent changes" dimension. Subscribers receive an email alert.

What this is not

LicenceMap is a research and comparison tool. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for qualified counsel, and it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Use it to decide which conversations to have and to arrive at those conversations informed. Read the full disclaimer.

Questions or corrections

Spotted something that has changed? Email hello@licencemap.com, corrections are prioritised over everything else.