Registration vs Licensing

Registration and licensing are different things that a firm's marketing often presents as the same. Registration is typically an enrolment: a business notifies an authority that it operates in a given activity, submits identifying details and anti-money-laundering arrangements, and appears on a list. Licensing is an authorisation: the authority assesses the business against substantive requirements before it may operate — capital, governance, how client assets are held, complaints handling — and supervises it afterwards, with the power to restrict or withdraw permission. The practical difference is what an entry on a public register actually promises. A registration confirms that a filing was made and generally says nothing about the safety of customer funds; an authorisation implies conditions a supervisor can enforce. Which activities need which, and what either grants, differ by jurisdiction, so the useful question is not whether a firm appears on a list but which list, kept by whom, covering what.