Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/853507
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 JULY 2017 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Payscout partners with Grant Thornton to secure EU Financial Institution licence Grant Thornton has provided advisory and strategic services to guide the European expansion of Payscout Inc., and has been pivotal to assist in obtaining approval of Payscout's Financial Institution (FI) license in the European Union, enabling the global payment processing provider to function as a fi nancial institution across the entire European Economic Area. Payscout Inc., a leading global payment processing provider, has been issued a Financial Institu- tion (FI) licence by the Malta Fi- nancial Services Authority. The process was facilitated by Grant Thornton Malta, pioneers in the local fi ntech industry. The FI Licence permits Payscout to operate as a payment facilitator with possibility to expand and passport its operations throughout the EU, enabling the firm to, among other things, execute transactions as well as issue and acquire payment instruments. "Obtaining our Financial Institution Licence in the EU enhances our ability to empower entrepreneurs across the world," said Payscout EU managing director, Mike Norton, who oversees the company's European expansion and Go Global Now initiative. "Grant Thornton has been a key ally in facilitating both our European expansion and the acquisition of our FI licence. We're thrilled to call them a partner in our continued growth and expansion." Covering six continents and connecting merchants to consumers via credit, debit, ATM, and alternative payment networks, Payscout has US locations in Los Angeles, CA, Ramsey, NJ, and Douglasville, GA, with international locations in Brazil, China, and Malta. Payscout has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States for three consecutive years and maintains global partnerships with VISA, Bank of America, MasterCard, China Union Pay, Deutsche Bank, First Data, and more. Payscout's Vision is to become the thought-leading and fastest- growing global payment processing provider in the world. The emergence of Payscout EU and the strategic expansion that the Malta team is initiating fulfill both the thought-leading and fastest-growing components of the Vision. Grant Thornton Malta is extremely pleased with the success of Payscout in Malta to date, as well as the role it played in the licensing application process. Since Payscout set up offices in Malta in 2016, the Grant Thornton advisory and regulatory team has provided the necessary support and advice on Malta's financial services legislation, application process, as well as the necessary liaising with the MFSA, local banks, relevant government departments and other third party service providers. Malta is an ideal jurisdiction in which to set up a financial institution. Malta's and the EU's legislative infrastructure, particularly the Payment Services Directive, provide a perfect base for financial institutions to operate within the European market, enjoying a professional, practical safe and cost effective environment. Amongst other benefits, a licensed Maltese financial institution planning to expand its operations into other European states can seek to passport its licence to operate in any country of the European Union. Several hundred finance related, gaming and tech companies have set-up operations on the island requiring various services ranging from fund and asset managers, insurance companies, forex traders, payment service providers and electronic money institutions as well as treasury and factoring operations. This has also paved the path for the island to build a strong understanding of the Fintech industry. Wayne Pisani, Grant Thornton Partner for Tax and Regulatory strongly believes in the prospects that fintech presents for Malta. "A Fintech ecosystem in Malta could create valuable synergies between the growing ICT and financial service providers. Malta could also be used as a pilot test bed for a Fintech ecosystem – such as Blockchain - prior to launching into the global market." Malta is also keen to attract start-ups and foreign players to base their innovation labs on the island. Complemented by other factors, such as a relatively cheap cost base, a highly attractive financial services jurisdiction, an excellent quality of life and safe environment, proficiency in the English language, and other business-friendly initiatives undertaken by the authorities during the last decade, Malta can surely position itself as Europe's Fintech platform. Payscout's Vision is to become the thought-leading and fastest-growing global payment processing provider in the world. Alphabet profi ts rocked by EU fi ne Profi ts at Alphabet, the parent company of search giant Google, have been hit by the record fi ne imposed by the European Com- mission last month. The firm said it saw strong growth in the second quarter, with revenues of about $26bn (€22.3bn), up 21% compared to the same period in 2016. But profits for the three months to the end of June were $3.5bn, more than 40% lower than they would have been without the fine. Year-on-year profits fell almost 30%. Google was fined €2.42bn ($2.7bn) by the European Commission last month after it ruled the company had abused its power by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results. The amount was the regulator's largest penalty to date against a company accused of distorting the market. Alphabet has already said it may challenge the fine. The company wants to keep an eye on its advertising business, however. The cost per click - i.e how much money Google makes with every ad click - has dropped by 23% year on year. That's much more than analysts had hoped. It's a sign that Google is having to work harder to keep those incredible revenues coming in. And if it is to comply with what it sees as overly strict European Commission measures, its ability to use its market power to dominate online advertising may be restricted. Just as well, then, that the non-advertising side of Alphabet is doing well too. On Monday, chief financial officer Ruth Porat said the firm was reviewing the decision and working on ways to address the regulator's concerns. She refused to comment further on how it could affect the business, describing it as an ongoing legal matter. "The main thing is we're very focused on helping users and advertisers and are reviewing our options," she said. The tech giant's shares, which had risen ahead of the firm's publication of its earnings, fell more than 3% in after-hours trading. Some said that was a sign shareholders were cashing in. Alphabet makes most of its money from advertising. It said revenues from advertisers on its own sites, such as YouTube and Gmail, and other sites together increased 18% year-on-year to $22.7bn. YouTube, for example, now has about 1.5bn monthly viewers, who watch an average of 60 minutes a day, said Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. The firm has also been working to diversify its revenue stream, investing in areas such as driverless cars, cloud services and life sciences that it says are united by the opportunities presented by machine learning. Alphabet's other revenues - which include money from things such as app purchases and its cloud services - jumped more than 40% to about $3bn. Alphabet's profi ts for Q2 2017 were $3.5bn