Ripple has gained an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license to operate as a regulated financial company across the European Union. The California-based company received the license from the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, Luxembourg’s financial industry watchdog.
Ripple first announced its progress with the new license last week, revealing that it had received preliminary approval from the CSSF. This served as a green light for the company to meet certain conditions in order to receive the license.
The firm says it has since fulfilled all the requirements and has now officially received the approval.
Image courtesy of Marco Salzmann.
Cassie Craddock, Ripple’s managing director for UK and Europe, described the new license as “a transformative milestone that reinforces Ripple’s presence at the heart of European finance.”
She added:
The license allows the company to issue electronic money and provide financial services in the EU. Under the region’s passporting regulations, it can use the same license to serve customers in every country in the 27-member bloc without requiring any new approvals.
One of the provisions that companies must meet to obtain an EMI is that customer funds must be fully segregated from their own. This is important for any crypto firm as the sector has been hit by asset co-mingling on dozens of occasions, which almost always ends up in lost funds if the company blows up. One of the best-known examples is FTX, which went down with billions of dollars in customer funds, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of founder Sam Bankman-Fried and associates.
The Luxembourg license is the latest in a long line of approvals globally for Ripple, which has become one of the most compliant crypto firms. Last month, it received an EMI license from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. The FCA, known to be one of the strictest financial watchdogs, also registered the company as a crypto asset service provider.
Ripple now claims to have 75 financial service licenses globally. Commenting on the company’s progress, President Monica Long stated:
Long has predicted that this year will be the start of crypto’s “production era,” as we reported, and being a fully licensed financial services firm gives Ripple an edge over rivals as crypto goes mainstream.
XRP trades at $1.63, losing 14.6% over the past week.
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