UK Company Formation...

Everything you need to know about setting up in the UK.

UK Company Formation Wizard

Use our helpful tool to see what's required to set up your company in the UK.

Setting Up in The UK

A practical guide to what’s involved, and what you can expect to happen during this process.

FAQs

Get answers to commonly asked questions about company formation, accounting and taxes.

Our Services...

From accounting to personalised telephone answering – everything your company needs to thrive in the UK.

UK Company Formation

Company formation, memorandum and articles registration and appointing Directors and Shareholders.

Legal Compliance

Covering various business operations such as company secretary, registered office, handling post and more.

Outsourced Finance Office

Complete administrative support for your UK company designed especially for foreign businesses.

Bank Account Opening

Operate from day one with a virtual Bank account that can be opened immediately.

Virtual Office Service

UK business address, personalised phone answering service, mail handling, access to the meeting room.

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Hot Desking Service

Co-working space and hot desking services offering a flexible and collaborative working environment.

Advisory Services

Advice on formation, directorship and other relevant rules and regulations related to setting up in the UK.

Brokerage Services

A single entry point to services frequently required in the early stages of company development.

About EBS...

Find out more about EBS, how we operate and what we stand for – or simply get in touch with us.

Who we are and how we work

We work exclusively with foreign-owned businesses in the UK and understand the problems they face.

Our Team

Behind every successful business is a great team - meet the team that makes up EBS.

Contact Details

Our address and contact details. If you need to get in touch with us, you can email us here.

Who we work with...

Explore our case studies and see how we work with foreign companies, helping them set up in the UK.

What's happening in the Industry

We’ve created and curated some helpful news articles relating to EBS and the industry in general.

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Helpful Guides and Documents

We’ve created some helpful guides and documents covering topics such as Britain’s History and Geography, The Legal System, Formalities and more. 

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Get in touch with us...

We’d love to hear from you! – if you have any questions, please get in touch with us on phone, email or social media, and our friendly team will be pleased to help.

Head Office

EBS Ltd, Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW

London Office

EBS Ltd, 118 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5EA

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What are the main differences between a Bank and a Fintech?

There has been much discussion about, and some confusion between, a real Bank and the Fintech alternative, which are also sometimes, and quite wrongly, called Fintech banks.

So to be clear, the Fintechs provide payment services and are regulated as Electronic Money Institutions (EMI). Both the Banks and EMIs are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which can lead to some confusion, but the regulations, and in particular how your money is protected, are very different.

The FCA has recently written to all EMIs reminding them that they are not allowed to call themselves “banks”, and this is a good opportunity to take a brief look at the differences in how your money is protected in each case.

If your money is in an account at a “real” Bank it is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which means that the UK Government will step in and ensure that you are compensated (within certain limits) if your Bank goes into liquidation.

The FSCS does not extend to EMIs. Instead, the EMI must provide what is called “Safeguarding” so that once an EMI receives your money, it must place that money in a dedicated “safeguarding account” with a Bank. Your money must stay in these accounts until you spend it.

This means that if an EMI fails, there should be a sum of money which is enough to pay all customers the money they are owed. The only thing that can be paid from these safeguarding accounts, before the customers are paid back their e-money, is the cost of the receiver (the person who’s appointed to manage the closure of a failed company).

The main difference between FSCS protection and safeguarding is that FSCS protection is covered by the UK Government fund, while safeguarding protection is provided by the EMI itself. If a Bank were to fail, this Government fund is legally obliged to pay the customers back their money. This will happen whether or not the Bank actually has that money itself, and this will normally happen within seven days.

If an EMI fails, the customers’ claims will be paid from the safeguarding account, but the legal costs of the liquidation, which can be substantial, will be taken first. So, even where the EMI has followed all the rules, there might not be enough money remaining in these accounts for customers to be repaid in full. Another factor to consider is that the repayment can only happen after the liquidation of the EMI has been completed, and this can take many months.

EBS work with both Banks and EMIs to provide suitable services for our clients, and can help guide you to an appropriate solution.

The information contained in this article was correct at the time of writing. However, they should be considered as general information only and specific advice should be obtained before any actions are taken.

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Warwick Office

EBS Ltd, Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW

London Office

EBS Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ

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