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NewProducts
Company: the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, enforces Dodd-Frank
Adam Atlas Attorney at Law reforms through educational outreach and legal
Product: actions against noncompliant companies. CFPB
MSBStatus.com records can reveal complaints filed against compa-
Website: nies, Atlas said.
www.msbstatus.com
Contact: • NMLS: The NMLS Federal Registry regulates fed-
support@msbstatus.com erally chartered or insured institutions and mort-
gage loan originators in compliance with rules
50-state MSB status in established by the CFPB and the Secure and Fair
30 seconds Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act. The Reg-
istry accepts applications in 30 states, making it
A dam Atlas Attorney at Law, a commercial law necessary to research 20 other states separately, At-
firm specializing in electronic payments, fin- las stated.
tech and merchant acquiring law, launched
MSBStatus.com, a service that provides detailed • FATCA: The Foreign Account Tax Compliance
reports on the money services business (MSB) status of any Act (FATCA), passed as part of the HIRE Act, re-
entity. The niche product was devised as a tool for ISOs, quires foreign financial institutions and entities to
fintech startups, financial analysts and other interested par- report foreign assets held by U.S. account holders.
ties in need of up-to-date information on MSBs and virtual The HIRE Act also requires U.S. persons to report
currency businesses (VCBs). foreign financial accounts and offshore assets. Two
hundred thousand financial institutions are reg-
MSBs ? which generally offer check cashing, money order, istered with FATCA; MSBstatus.com can identify
travelers check, money transfer, foreign currency exchange companies registered in different countries with
or prepaid products and services ? and VCBs must register similar names.
with the U.S. government and in all states in which they op-
erate, a process that can cost millions of dollars and take up • FINTRAC: The Financial Transactions and Reports
to three years to complete. MSBStatus.com compiles public Analysis Centre of Canada is Canada's financial in-
data from federal and state registrations into a comprehen- telligence unit, established to detect, prevent and
sive report, reducing the time, effort and costs of research- deter money laundering and financing of terrorist
ing business entities. activities while protecting Canadian citizens' per-
sonal information.
"When an MSB operates nationally, the licensing process
requires dealing with each state individually," said Adam • Card Brand Registration: MSBstatus.com can gen-
Atlas, founder of his eponymously named law firm. "I have erate acquirer, issuer or ISO reports in 30 seconds
spent countless hours and never found a single source to and can reveal a company's card brand registra-
provide details of a company's status across all states." tions, Atlas noted.
Multiple registrations, licenses A timely resource
The labor-intensive process of researching MSB status MSBstatus.com can provide a reality check for payments
information for clients prompted Atlas and his associates industry stakeholders, including attorneys researching the
to develop an efficient, automated system. Following are fintech landscape for clients and banks seeking the license
examples of registration and licensing agency data included and registration status of existing and prospective MSB
in an MSBStatus report: partners. The reports provide current information on MSB
licensure, complaints and state license status, the law firm
• FinCEN: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Net- stated.
work (FinCEN) acts as the designated administra-
tor of the Bank Secrecy Act, which was enacted in Reports can be integrated and customized using an applica-
1970 to fight against money laundering. FinCEN tion programming interface, enabling clients to provide ad-
safeguards the financial system, working closely ditional data on the subject of their study. Reports will pro-
with financial authorities to promote national se- vide "not just what's going on but what has changed most
curity by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating recently in the MSB space," Atlas said. "We'll be among the
financial intelligence. first to know if Uber decides to become an MSB."
• CFPB: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, MSBStatus.com is designed to be a timely resource in the
established in 2011, created in conjunction with rapidly expanding fintech space. "I hope, as the industry
grows and becomes more transparent and synchronized,
48 that my service will ultimately become obsolete," Atlas said.
"MSB information may eventually become freely available
to the public, but we don't expect that to happen any time
soon."
