Regulations
Calmony Client Bank Accounts &
Client Money Protection (CMP) Compliance
All letting agents, estate agents or property management agents handling client funds are mandated to be part of a recognised Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme. These funds must be securely held in an “account at a bank or building society that is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)”.
For comprehensive details on these regulations, please refer to the official guidance at Gov.uk.
Calmony’s designated client bank accounts are facilitated through Griffin, a bank that holds authorisation from the FCA and is also featured on the Bank of England’s approved list of Banks. These accounts are established directly between the Property Agent and Griffin, with Calmony providing state-of-the-art online banking technology to manage access and facilitate transactions.
Additionally, Griffin is responsible for issuing the annual Bank Safeguarding Letter required by your chosen CMP scheme provider, ensuring full compliance with the 2019 Client Money Regulations.
By choosing a Griffin Client Bank Account through Calmony, you have the ability to make BACS payments out of the bank accounts.
Furthermore, agents are not only meeting but exceeding the legal requirements set forth for client money protection, ensuring both compliance and peace of mind.
CalmonyPay/ Non Property Agent Calmony Client Accounts Electronic Money Compliance
An Electronic Money Institution (EMI) is a provider of e-money and money deposited with an EMI is stored electronically in digital wallets.
Calmony is acting as an agent of Modulr to provide CalmonyPay which is a payment service for receiving funds from open banking payments, debit and credit cards and facilitating BACS/batch payments out, similar to services like PayPay and Gocardless. Calmony’s CalmonyPay and Non Property Agent Client Accounts services is an EMI service authorised under the UK Electronic Money Regulations and is FCA registered 850923.
Funds held in a CalmonyPay Account or Non Property Agent Calmony Client Account is an electronic money account with payment services provided by Modulr Finance Ltd who are an authorised Electronic Money Institution with the money held in a Bank of England bank account.
All EMIs must follow safeguarding laws to protect your funds. These laws are designed to ensure that if the e-money institution fails, your money will have been kept in a safe place.
More information about Modulr and their safeguarding here .
Bank Safeguarding Letter
If you are a Property Agent and have a Calmony Client Bank Account, Griffin will directly issue you the bank safeguarding letter that you will be required to submit to your CMP scheme provider, ensuring full compliance with the 2019 Client Money Regulations.
If you are a Non Property Agent and have a Calmony Client Account, Modulr will directly issue you the bank safeguarding letter to confirm that the account is set up as an electronic account and all money standing to the credit of the client account is held by your business.
Bank safeguarding letters explain how client funds are safeguarded and that Calmony, Griffin or Modulr cannot offset any money owed to those limited companies from funds held in Calmony’s Client Bank Account with Griffin, or Non Property Agents Calmonys Client Account with Modulr.
Client Bank Accounts are provided under Griffin Bank. Griffin Bank Ltd (“Griffin”) is registered in England and Wales No. 10842931, and is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the PRA and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Griffin’s firm reference number is 970920.
E-money accounts are provided under Modulr’s licence as an AEMI (FRN: 900573), and in line with the regulatory requirements, 100% of client funds related to the e-money are segregated from Modulr’s own funds and are held within designated Client Money Accounts with the Bank of England.
Letters are provided to Calmony customers upon request and are free of charge.
Accountant Audits
Calmony allows your accountant and auditor to download all the financial transactions, and we can further help by providing account details for any payments received or made.
We recommend that your annual accountants audit be conducted by The Letting Partnership Ltd with their thorough Financial and Client Money Health Check.
Please be aware that Calmony requires a copy of your annual accountants report.
AML requirement
All payees must have an approved AML check to ensure Calmony and yourself are not committing an AML breach. This can be done using the built-in tools, uploading your own in-house AML checks, or requesting an AML exemption.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
All UK banks’ customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if a bank fails, and this applies to Calmony Client Bank Accounts provided by Griffin. For further information on FSCS about who is covered, how much is covered, and under what circumstances you can expect to receive compensation, please refer to griffin.com/deposit-protection
EMI Safeguarding
Modulr FS Ltd (FRN: 900573) is licensed as an authorised E-Money Institution (EMI) and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Calmony is a trading name of agentOS Proptech Group Ltd and is registered as a PSD agent with the Financial Services Authority, reference number 850923.
This enables Modulr to issue electronic money (e-money) to its customers, hold customer funds in safeguarded e-money accounts, and provide related payment services to customers.
Payment services in the UK are subject to the Payment Services Regulations (PSRs).
The PSRs apply to all payment services, meaning that in relation to payment services, there is no difference in how Modulr or other payment service providers and banks are regulated.
In line with Modulr’s regulatory requirements, 100% of customer funds related to the e-money that Modulr FS Ltd has issued are segregated from Modulr’s own funds, and safeguarded in a Bank of England account. As such, e-money in Modulr accounts is protected from any risk connected with Modulr’s or solvency.
In line with the Electronic Money Regulations, Modulr FS holds additional “own funds” to the value of 2% of the safeguarded balance. EMIs like Modulr FS Ltd have a responsibility to notify the FCA should the “own funds” fall below the 2% mark.
The “own funds” requirement and safeguarding requirement means customer funds are 100% available to a customer, and there is a protection mechanism to help ensure an orderly wind down of an EMI if required.
While the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is not applicable in relation to e-money products, the regulatory regime outlined above can be relied upon and protects the full balance of customer funds, as opposed to protecting up to a cap (as under the FSCS).
Meaning, we use safeguarding to protect 100% of your money while the FSCS is limited up to a total of £85,000 for individual accounts.
With regards to money laundering and the Proceeds of Crime Act, Modulr has the same obligations as other payment service providers and banks.
FCA regulations
Calmony is an FCA registered (850923) Electronic Money Directive (EMD) and Payment Services Directive (PSD) agent.
PCI compliance
Calmony is committed to protecting our consumers and their customers’ credit and debit card data in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
We conduct regular vulnerability scans and penetration tests in accordance with the PCI DSS requirements for our business model.