Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment for a Leading Payments Company

Lysis Group delivered a tailored, regulator-ready EWRA for a leading payments firm, enhancing risk visibility, governance, and compliance readiness.

Division
Consulting & Advisory
Industry

Payment Services & Card/ Merchant Acquirers

Service-line

The Client

A rapidly growing electronic money institution (EMI) and payment service provider (PSP) with operations across Europe and a client base spanning SMEs, fintechs, and e-commerce platforms. The client operates in a high-risk sector and must comply with evolving financial crime regulations under the UK and EU regimes.

The Challenge

The client was preparing for regulatory engagement and required a comprehensive Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment (EWRA) to evidence a risk-based approach to financial crime compliance. Their existing risk assessment was outdated, fragmented across business units, and lacked alignment with current regulatory expectations and business expansion plans.

Key challenges included:
• Inconsistent risk categorisation and scoring methodology
• Gaps in data integrity and risk typology coverage
• Limited visibility of inherent and residual risks across products, geographies, and customer segments
• A lack of board-level visibility and clear ownership of financial crime risks

The Solution

Lysis Group deployed a team of subject matter experts to design and deliver a fit-for-purpose EWRA aligned with FCA, EBA, and FATF expectations. The approach included:
• Conducting stakeholder interviews across compliance, operations, risk, and senior management
• Developing a risk taxonomy tailored to the payments sector, covering customer, product, delivery channel, and jurisdictional risks
• Designing a dynamic EWRA framework to measure inherent, control, and residual risks
• Integrating qualitative and quantitative data sources to inform risk ratings
• Producing a clear narrative for board reporting and regulatory review

Lysis also provided a tailored risk assessment tool and detailed handover to support future updates.

Results

• A comprehensive and regulator-ready EWRA that gave full visibility of the client’s financial crime risk exposure
• Strengthened the client’s financial crime control environment and governance
• Enhanced board oversight with a clear risk appetite alignment
• Positioned the client for confident regulatory engagement and audit readiness
• Provided a scalable framework adaptable to new markets, products, and risk drivers

Lysis Group delivered a tailored, regulator-ready EWRA for a leading payments firm, enhancing risk visibility, governance, and compliance readiness.

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