Money services licensing in the United States, handled end to end.
MSB Advisory guides fintech, crypto and remittance operators through FinCEN registration, state money transmitter licensing, renewals, accounting and legal — from the first filing to a fully operating business.
What we do
Three lines of work, one team. We take a business from unlicensed to compliant, keep it that way year after year, and handle the books and the legal work around it.
Licensing
Every money services business in the U.S. needs FinCEN registration and, in most states, a money transmitter license. There are two ways to get there. We run both.
Acquire a licensed company
Buy an existing entity that is already registered and licensed. The fastest route to operating, with a compliance history you can inherit and audit before you close.
- Sourcing of available licensed entities
- Regulatory and financial due diligence
- Change-of-control filings with state regulators
- Transition of compliance program and officers
Form a new entity from zero
Start clean with a structure designed around your product, your states and your capital. Slower, but built exactly to your specification with no legacy exposure.
- Entity formation and corporate structure
- FinCEN MSB registration
- State money transmitter license applications
- AML/BSA program, policies and compliance officer
- Surety bonds and capital requirements
Renewals and ongoing compliance
Licenses lapse, filings come due, regulators ask questions. We keep the calendar, prepare the submissions and stand between you and the deadline.
- State license renewals
- FinCEN re-registration
- NMLS annual reports
- Quarterly call reports
- Examination preparation
- Independent AML review
- Policy updates
- Regulator correspondence
Accounting and legal
MSBs carry accounting and legal obligations that general practitioners rarely understand. We handle them as one integrated service alongside your licensing.
- Bookkeeping and monthly close
- Permissible investments tracking
- Audited financial statements
- Federal and state tax filings
- Contracts and agent agreements
- Banking relationships and de-risking
- Corporate governance
- Regulatory inquiries and responses
How it works
Licensing is a sequence, and skipping a step costs months. This is the order we work in, whether you are buying, building or renewing.
Assessment
We map your product to the licenses it actually triggers, state by state, and tell you plainly whether to acquire, form or restructure.
Structure and registration
Entity, ownership, capital, bonds and FinCEN registration are put in place so state applications land on a clean foundation.
Licensing or transfer
We prepare and file each state application, or run the change-of-control on an acquired company, and manage every regulator follow-up.
Operate and renew
Books, reports, renewals and legal continue on a fixed calendar so the business stays licensed without your team chasing dates.
Who we serve
The rules are the same whether money moves through an app or across a counter. We work with both.
Digital-first operators
Companies launching or scaling payment products in the U.S. that need a licensed footprint before banks, partners and app stores will say yes.
Established money services
Businesses that have moved money for years and need licensing, renewals and accounting kept in order as regulators tighten.
Start with an email
Tell us what you are building or where you are stuck. We will reply with a clear next step, whether that is a licensed company to acquire, a formation plan or a renewal calendar.
hello@msbadvisory.comEvery conversation is confidential.