Launching a full-service banking platform is usually the most capital-intensive move a fintech founder can make. Traditional jurisdictions demand twelve-month regulatory sprints, multi-million-dollar share capital deposits, resident teams, and continuous on-site inspections. The Anjouan bank license re-writes that rulebook. Issued by the Offshore Finance Authority, it gives ambitious entrepreneurs legal cover to accept deposits, lend cross border, offer foreign exchange services, and even combine fiat rails with tokenised assets, all from a discreet Indian-Ocean base.
For digital asset pioneers who find the EU’s Credit Institution Directive or Dubai’s VARA out of reach, Anjouan’s agile framework bridges the gap between a fintech MVP and a regulated institution. This guide unpacks what the licence permits, how it compares to competing offshore regimes, typical timelines, operational guardrails, and why Aston VIP has become the go-to structuring partner for founders who want credible banking status without burning through seven figure capital.
Why the Anjouan bank license is getting so much traction
Anjouan is one of three islands that form the Union of the Comoros. In 2005, wanting to diversify away from tourism, the local legislature passed the Offshore Finance Authority Act, granting the OFA sweeping powers to license international banks, insurers, brokerages, and, more recently, crypto platforms. Because the Comoros is not blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force and maintains formal diplomatic relations with the European Union, its certificates of authorisation sit in a grey zone: offshore enough to keep costs minimal, yet respectable enough to open correspondent accounts if the compliance dossier is well presented.
That sweet spot is the licence’s main draw. Founders skip the two year discovery tours and eight figure balance-sheet pledges associated with on-shore banking charters, but still hold a document that tells counterparties, “We are not an unregulated money service, we are an authorised international bank.” Keep reading to learn about what the Anjouan bank license allows holders to do, as well as other details.
What does the Anjouan offshore bank license allow?
Once the OFA stamp lands on your corporate file, you can:
Accept deposits and issue numbered accounts
Retail or corporate clients may settle cash, stablecoins, or precious-metal tokens into segregated ledger entries that your institution administers.
Provide lending products
From trade-finance credit lines for SMEs to collateralised consumer loans, the licence explicitly authorises issuance of debt instruments and management of interest spreads.
Operate multi-currency payments and FX desks
You may convert between hard currencies, facilitate international remittances, and maintain in-house treasury operations that hedge exchange-rate exposure.
Release debit cards and virtual IBANs
Through BIN sponsors or white-label card programmes, your bank can distribute payment instruments tied to client balances.
Integrate digital asset features
The OFA does not prohibit crypto holdings, provided internal compliance policies document custody methods and transactional risk controls.
Market globally
So long as you avoid United States residents and FATF-sanctioned territories, you are free to acquire clients in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and even Europe under a reverse-solicitation model.
These permissions mirror those of a classic Category A international bank, minus the geographic restrictions that many Caribbean regulators impose. The only activities the licence does not cover are life insurance underwriting and securities underwriting, both require separate OFA endorsements.
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Who is the Anjouan bank license designed for?
Neobanking originators
Originators who want to test user-generated deposits, card usage, and compliance flows before seeking a costly e-money or full bank charter in Europe.
Crypto-fiat ramp operators
Operators that need regulated status to strike liquidity agreements with exchanges, PSPs, or market-making desks.
Boutique private-banking consortia
Consortia made up of family offices pooling assets in a confidential environment with multi-currency flexibility.
Cross-border lenders
Lenders serving under-banked populations in Africa or Latin America, where local licence throughput times hinder speed to market.
Corporate treasury hubs
Hubs managing international trade settlements, stablecoin holdings, and supply-chain financing from a single offshore balance sheet.
Set-up timeline and procedural overview
While every file carries unique due-diligence nuances, Aston VIP’s average engagement follows a six-stage workflow that rarely exceeds forty-five calendar days from mandate to certificate.
Discovery and structuring call (Day 1-3)
We map the proposed product suite, revenue model, and jurisdictional risk appetite. We also decide whether additional entities, such as an EU payment agent, are required.
Offshore entity incorporation (Day 4-10)
Aston VIP drafts the memorandum and articles of association, appoints provisional directors (with nominee options if confidentiality is desired), and secures the corporate name through the Anjouan Registrar.
Authorisation dossier collation (Day 11-20)
This pack includes a detailed business plan, three-year financial projections, an AML/KYC framework, a risk-rating matrix, and CVs plus police clearances for directors and beneficial owners.
Submission to the OFA (Day 21)
Our legal counsel files the application in person, ensuring immediate docket allocation.
Regulatory queries and clarifications (Day 22-38)
The OFA usually requests minor clarifications on source-of-wealth evidence or IT-security standards. Aston VIP handles all back-and-forth without client travel.
Licence issuance and gazetting (Day 39-45)
Upon approval, the Authority issues an International Banking License Certificate. Your entity receives a unique licence number, which you may display on client-facing material.
"Under urgent timelines, the OFA will expedite review for an official surcharge, trimming total time to as little as three weeks."
Capital, staffing, and compliance expectations
Unlike Puerto Rico or Labuan, Anjouan does not mandate a fixed statutory capital figure. Instead, founders propose an amount “commensurate with projected risk and transaction size.” For a retail e-wallet, regulators often accept as low as 150-thousand United States dollars. For an institutional lender, we recommend pledging at least 500-thousand to support counterparty comfort. Capital may remain in your bank’s own correspondent account and is not locked in a Comorian branch.
Management-wise, the OFA will green-light offshore directors and does not legally insist on a resident compliance officer. Nevertheless, most banks that intend to open correspondent lines with EU or Caribbean institutions appoint a part-time MLRO and compliance officer under service contracts. Aston VIP sources seasoned professionals who meet international fit-and-proper guidelines and can work remotely under your banking core-system’s audit trail.
As for ongoing obligations, the bank must file an annual activity report, a basic financial statement (not necessarily IFRS audited), and pay a modest renewal fee. There is no requirement to host local board meetings or maintain a bricks-and-mortar branch on the island.
Banking relationships and payment corridors
Even a perfectly drafted licence is only as useful as the settlement rails behind it. Aston VIP leverages an ecosystem of:
- Caribbean correspondent banks willing to hold multi-currency nostro accounts for Anjouan institutions.
- European Electronic Money Institutions that white-label IBANs and virtual accounts under PSD2 frameworks.
- EMIs in Eastern Europe and the Baltics that tolerate digital-asset exposure for treasury management.
- SWIFT affiliate services that allow your bank to issue a dedicated BIC code, improving message transparency for wire counterparts.
For card issuance, we cooperate with BIN sponsors in Mexico, Brazil, and the UAE. Clients can ship branded MasterCard or Visa debit cards worldwide within eight weeks of licence grant.
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Fees, ongoing obligations, and renewal roadmap
Licence application and government fee
Variable, but often lands between 30- and 50-thousand dollars depending on negotiation of capital undertakings.
Aston VIP turnkey setup
This includes incorporation, manuals, nominee provisioning, licence liaison etc. They are quoted individually, paid in staged milestones tied to regulator acceptance.
Annual renewal
A modest authority fee plus filing of an operational compliance questionnaire and management accounts, typically less than 10-thousand dollars all-in.
Optional extras
SWIFT/BIC registration, board-level compliance appointments, external audit (if you later seek EU bank partnerships), each priced separately.
Because Aston VIP’s fintech arm earns volume discounts with software vendors, we can pass forward integrations to core-banking platforms like Mambu or Temenos at below-market licence rates.
Why Anjouan? Comparing global offshore bank licensing
Puerto Rico International Financial Entity
Highly regarded by US fintech partners but demands a minimum 250-thousand dollar paid-in capital and a four-to-six-month licensing cycle. Also requires at least four local employees.
Vanuatu Class B banking licence
Lower capital than Puerto Rico yet still around half a million dollars. Public register exposure means UBO names appear in government gazettes, which some founders dislike.
Dominica International Bank
Relatively fast approval but recent OECD grey-list concerns have tightened correspondent banking options. Crypto is discouraged.
Anjouan bank licence
Capital flexible, no public UBO exposure, crypto-friendly, approval inside forty-five days, and the offshore entity can be paired with EU or UAE payment subsidiaries for added credibility.
"If speed, discreet shareholder registers, and blockchain-asset functionality matter more than obtaining a US routing number on day one, Anjouan leads the field."
Combining Anjouan with layered on-shore entities
A proven strategy is to form a Cyprus payment agent directly underneath the Anjouan bank. The Cyprus company, benefiting from EU low-tax status and robust AML supervision, opens SEPA bank accounts and collects client fiat inflows. Funds are then swept to the offshore treasury each day. This split delivers European compliance optics while preserving Anjouan’s discretion for proprietary trading and crypto custody operations.
Another variation uses a Dubai holding company to own 100 percent of the Anjouan bank shares. When founders later seek a VARA licence or pitch to Middle Eastern venture capital, the corporate family tree already features a UAE anchor, easing due diligence.
Example structures: How clients use the license
Crypto-bank hybrid for Latin America
A Spanish-speaking team wanted to merge USDT accounts with traditional debit-card spending in Colombia and Peru. Local regulatory sandboxes proved slow, so they acquired an Anjouan bank licence, integrated a Mexico-based card issuer, and reached 25 thousand users in the first quarter.
Family-office private bank
Three Gulf investors pooled 150 million dollars in liquid portfolios but required multi-currency custody outside the public glare of Swiss registers. Anjouan granted a banking charter in five weeks. Aston VIP layered a UAE SPC above the bank, allowing the families to manage assets via Power of Attorney while remaining invisible in public registries.
B2B FX and lending arm
A European PSP faced balance-sheet caps that limited its ability to pre-fund exotic corridors. By launching an allied Anjouan bank, it now holds surplus liquidity, extends trade-finance deals to African importers, and sweeps profits back to a Cyprus EMI each month.
Risks, reputation, and what to consider
Anjouan’s flexibility comes with caveats. Certain Tier 1 banks will still apply de-risking policies against offshore counterparties. Some ad networks or marketplace platforms may flag unknown banking codes. Aston VIP counters these frictions through:
- Legal opinions drafted by Commonwealth-qualified counsel affirming the licence’s validity and scope.
- Enhanced due-diligence packs that include ultimate-beneficial-owner declarations, compliance-officer bios, and IT-security reports.
- Dual-jurisdiction marketing whereby client-facing brands reference the EU or UAE payment agent details while back-end liquidity resides in Anjouan.
- Banking support includes correspondent accounts, SWIFT/BIC codes, card issuance through BIN sponsors, and integration with EU EMIs and PSPs.
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Strategic structures include pairing with Cyprus or UAE entities to improve banking optics and streamline fiat flows while preserving offshore agility.
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Aston VIP handles end-to-end structuring, nominee provisioning, staffing, audit readiness, and post-licensing expansion into VARA or MiCA jurisdictions.
Building a future-proof offshore bank with Aston VIP
Aston partners with clients long after the certificate is framed on your office wall. We supply:
- Quarterly compliance reviews to benchmark your transaction monitoring against evolving FATF guidelines.
- Scalable nominee structures that can transition to on-shore directors if you later pursue higher-tier licences.
- Banking partner introductions as your volume grows, moving from smaller EMIs to full correspondent lines.
- Multi-jurisdiction tax optimisation via double-tax treaty planning between holding companies, payment agents, and on-shore branches.
Our team has orchestrated more than 760 digital-asset and fintech licences across the UAE, EU, Africa, and the Caribbean. That breadth means we can move you from early-stage offshore agility to heavyweight regulatory footprints whenever your metrics justify the leap.
Aston VIP: Your full-service Anjouan bank license partner
Choosing the Anjouan bank license isn’t just about ticking a regulatory box. It is a launchpad that can carry your brand from prototype to global finance house provided the structure is drafted, staffed, and maintained with institutional discipline. Aston VIP delivers that discipline through end-to-end legal drafting, nominee protection, compliance design, and banking network orchestration.
Ready to convert your fintech vision into a licensed bank within forty-five days? Contact our advisory desk for a confidential, no-obligation roadmap tailored to your market, technology, and growth targets. We listen, we strategise, and we execute, all under one mandate.
