# Raisin Suspend New Irish Signups - CB says that they need a license



## Lightning (10 Dec 2016)

Raisin, who provide a pan European deposit marketplace, are no longer accepting applications from new customers from Ireland.

No other country seems to be affected. Existing customers seem to be unaffected too.

No reason given. Raisin say they are working on re-accepting Irish signups.

Real shame, Raisin were providing some decent competition in the term deposit market. Hopefully, this is just a short term temporary issue.

I will update the best buys shortly.


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## Lightning (13 Dec 2016)

Raisin have emailed me with the below: 



> Unfortunately, permanent residents from Ireland are currently not able to open a Raisin Account at this time. The Central Bank of Ireland has asked us to postpone the acceptance of customers residing in Ireland until the ongoing discussions between Raisin and the Central Bank of Ireland have come to a close.
> 
> As soon as the situation has been clarified, we will inform you. We recommend that you sign up for our Raisin newsletter (in case you have not yet already done so) to be able to keep up to date with developments in this regard.
> 
> For Irish customers already registered and having a Raisin Account, no changes ; they can open new term deposits.


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## mtk (13 Dec 2016)

Wonder what this is  all about ??? What's the cbi concern ?


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## Lightning (13 Dec 2016)

Might be something simple like Raisin being forced to register as a deposit taker in Ireland and the CBI being slow to process. Might be something else.


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## Gordon Gekko (13 Dec 2016)

More of the usual rubbish from the Central Bank. Block people like Frank and Raisin. Do nothing about the dodgy Irish operators and let the consumer eat cake. Laughable.


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## Lightning (2 Jan 2017)

Niall Brady in the Sunday Times reports on this here. (Paywall but free to read 2 articles per week after you register for free). 

Raisin are now operating in every single EU country except Ireland. 

The reason that they have stopped Irish sign ups in the the CBI are saying that Raisin need a license. 



> “The reason we have for now discontinued to accept new Irish customers is that the Central Bank of Ireland holds the opinion that Raisin would require a licence under the Investment Intermediaries Act,” Raisin said.
> 
> “We continue to work intensively on a concept that will allow Raisin to accept customers residing in Ireland again soon and will inform the Irish audience as soon as this is the case.”
> 
> The broker said European law allowed it to operate across borders using consumer protections in its home country because it did not solicit business directly from Ireland or other EU states.


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## Lightning (19 Feb 2017)

The latest ...

The Sunday Times reports from Raisin that ...
“We continue to work on a concept that will allow Raisin to accept customers residing in Ireland again soon,” it said. “We will inform the Irish audience as soon as this is the case.”

Raisin also expressed frustration that the Central Bank of Ireland was the only regulator that required local regulation in Europe.


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## Lightning (5 Apr 2017)

The Irish Times reports here ... "Despite the arrival of pan-European deposit takers such as Raisin.com, its entry into Ireland was stopped by the Central Bank on the grounds that it needed a license under the Investment Intermediaries Act to operate here. A spokeswoman for the savings platform says it does not yet have any update, “but hope that this will change in the upcoming weeks”."


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## Nordkapp (5 Apr 2017)

The only way to supervise their activity is to regulate them. You would be surprised at the type of muck that tries to promote services to retail clients in Ireland


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## Sarenco (5 Apr 2017)

Gordon Gekko said:


> More of the usual rubbish from the Central Bank. Block people like Frank and Raisin. Do nothing about the dodgy Irish operators and let the consumer eat cake. Laughable.



Sorry Gordon but I don't think that's a fair criticism.

Operating as a deposit broker or agent in this State is a regulated activity in respect of which an authorisation is required under the Investment Intermediaries Act. 

If you don't think this should be a regulated activity then by all means petition your local TDs to change the law but I don't think it's fair to criticise a competent authority for simply discharging their statutory obligations.

Personally, I would be very uncomfortable dealing with any organisation that very obviously hasn't bothered to check something as obvious as whether or not they require a licence to lawfully offer their service in this State.  What else have they not bothered to check?

As regards Frank Money, do you have any evidence at all to suggest that the Central Bank is blocking or even delaying their entry to the market?  The most recent public comments on behalf of Frank Money suggest that they have yet to raise sufficient funds to launch a credible offering.  

The Central Bank, quite rightly, will not authorise any entity until they are in a position to actually launch their offering.


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## Lightning (1 Aug 2018)

According to the Irish Times, Raisin are close to resolving their license issue here. They expect to re-launch, for new customers, in 6-9 months time. Good news. https://www.irishtimes.com/business...be-on-way-for-irish-savers-1.3582452?mode=amp


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