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Academy

How licensed finance works.

Six narrated films, ten explainers on how banks and payment firms work, and ten guides to licensing and regulation. Every figure is sourced.

01

What is a bank?

Deposits, lending, how banks create money, capital, and what a regulator checks.

02

Reserves, capital and liquidity

What really limits lending, and what keeps a bank standing in a run.

03

Correspondent banking

How money crosses borders: nostro and vostro accounts, SWIFT, intermediaries, de-risking.

04

Compliance and AML

Know your customer, beneficial owners, screening, monitoring and reporting.

05

Why jurisdictions differ

EU passporting, standalone regimes, free zones, international centres and the risk lists.

06

MiCA and stablecoins

Crypto-asset service providers, e-money tokens, reserves and the travel rule.

Track one

Banking from first principles.

  1. 01What is a bank?What legally makes an institution a bank, the main types of bank, and what a banking licence permits and does not permit.8 min
  2. 02Fractional reserves and how banks create moneyHow bank lending creates deposits, what reserve requirements do today, and why capital rather than reserves limits how much a bank can lend.8 min
  3. 03Bank capital and the Basel frameworkCET1, Tier 1 and total capital, risk-weighted assets, Basel III minimums and buffers, the leverage ratio, and minimum initial capital for new banks.8 min
  4. 04Liquidity and funding: LCR, NSFR, deposit insurance and the lender of last resortHow banks are required to survive a 30-day stress and fund themselves stably, and how deposit insurance and central bank lending complete the safety net.9 min
  5. 05Governance and fit and proper requirementsHow bank boards, the three lines of defence and key function holders are organised, how fit and proper assessments work, and what regulators mean by substance.9 min
  6. 06Compliance: AML, KYC and sanctionsFATF standards, customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, PEPs, sanctions, monitoring, suspicious activity reports, the EU AML package and the travel rule.9 min
  7. 07Correspondent banking explainedNostro and vostro accounts, intermediary banks, SWIFT, nested relationships, de-risking, and why new banks struggle to obtain USD and EUR clearing.8 min
  8. 08Core banking, cloud, outsourcing and technology regulationWhat core banking systems do, how outsourcing and cloud rules apply to banks, what DORA requires, and how technology supports regulatory reporting.7 min
  9. 09Cards and payment railsCard schemes, issuing and acquiring, BIN sponsorship and principal membership, SEPA, instant payments, ISO 20022 and real-time gross settlement.8 min
  10. 10How jurisdictions differ in licensing banksWhy the same banking activity is licensed differently in the EU, UK, Switzerland, free zones and offshore centres, and how FATF and EU lists affect access.8 min

Track two

Licensing and regulation.

  1. 01How to license a bank: from business plan to authorisationThe full path to a banking licence: pre-application, the application pack, capital, fit and proper, IT, AML, mobilisation and realistic timelines.11 min
  2. 02Buying a bank: change of control and qualifying holdingsHow acquisitions of licensed banks and financial firms are approved: qualifying holdings, CRD Articles 22 to 27, timelines, due diligence and red flags.10 min
  3. 03E-money and payment institution licencesHow EU electronic money institutions and payment institutions differ from banks: capital, safeguarding, agents, passporting and the PSD3 transition.10 min
  4. 04Crypto-asset service providers under MiCAHow MiCA licenses crypto-asset service providers in the EU: services, capital classes, white papers, transition, reverse solicitation and the travel rule.11 min
  5. 05Stablecoin regulation worldwide and the GENIUS ActHow the EU, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and the UAE regulate fiat-backed stablecoins, and why the US GENIUS Act matters to issuers elsewhere.11 min
  6. 06Investment firms and FX brokers: MiFID II licences, capital and leverage limitsHow investment firm and FX broker licences work: MiFID II authorisation, IFR/IFD capital, CFD leverage limits, offshore licences and Hong Kong Type 3.10 min
  7. 07EU payments reform: PSD3, the Payment Services Regulation and instant paymentsWhere EU payments law is heading: PSD3 and the PSR, the Instant Payments Regulation, verification of payee, fraud liability and open banking.11 min
  8. 08The EU AML package and AMLA: what changes and whenAMLR, AMLD6 and the AMLA Regulation explained: dates from 2025 to 2029, new obliged entities, harmonised due diligence and AMLA direct supervision.11 min
  9. 09Online gaming licences: Malta, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Curacao, Kahnawake and the UKHow the main online gaming licences outside the US compare, what each regulator requires, and why payments and banking are the hardest part for operators.10 min
  10. 10Trust companies, fund regimes and private banking licencesHow trust company, fund administrator, fund manager and private banking licences work in Jersey, Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Ireland and Cayman.9 min