Lagom Sports Compliance partners with Orbis Exchange Group to align regulatory readiness and cross-border payment discipline in professional football
Lagom Sports Compliance, the leading specialist governance, risk, compliance and anti-financial crime advisory built exclusively for professional football, has entered a strategic partnership with Orbis Exchange Group, the global payments and treasury partner. The arrangement covers reciprocal client referrals, joint thought leadership and a shared presence at industry events across football and financial services.
The partnership responds to a simple operational reality. Football money is cross-border money. Transfer fees settle in instalments across currencies and calendar years, agent commissions and solidarity payments cross jurisdictions, sponsorship and broadcast income arrive from overseas counterparties, and owner funding frequently originates in offshore holding structures. Two regulatory timetables are about to place that activity under far closer examination.
In England, the Independent Football Regulator has finalised its licensing rulebook and will open the provisional licence application window on 1 November 2026, closing on 26 February 2027, with the licensing regime binding from the 2027/28 season. Around 116 clubs across the top five divisions of the men's game fall within scope. Owner and director accountability requirements are already in force. In the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 brings professional football clubs and licensed football agents inside the formal anti-money laundering perimeter from 10 July 2029, with customer due diligence, source of funds and transaction monitoring expectations of the kind long familiar to regulated financial institutions.
In both regimes, the standard is evidential. It is not sufficient for a payment to have been legitimate. A club or agency has to be able to show how it satisfied itself of that at the time, in a record a regulator can follow. That evidence sits in payment routing, counterparty selection, banking infrastructure and treasury records at least as much as it sits in policy documents.
What the partnership covers
Lagom will introduce clients to Orbis where currency exposure, payment routing or treasury structure is a live issue. Orbis will introduce clients in and adjacent to sport where regulatory readiness is the constraint on growth. The two firms will co-author articles for publication across both platforms and will attend industry events together, including through Orbis's association with the sporting director community.
The firms remain distinct in what they provide. Lagom Sports Compliance does not offer foreign exchange, payment or treasury services. Orbis Exchange Group does not provide regulatory or compliance advice. The value of the partnership lies in each firm being able to put a client in front of specialist capability rather than improvising outside its own expertise.
Clubs and agents are moving into a world where they will be asked to evidence how money moved, not simply that it moved. The provisional licence window opens on 1 November 2026 and the EU regime reaches clubs and agents on 10 July 2029. In both cases, a large part of the evidence a club will need lives in its payment and banking records. Orbis understands cross-border flows in a way that very few firms serving this sector do, and pairing that with our regulatory work gives clients something closer to a complete answer.
Jonathan Greenstein, Co-founder and Director, Lagom Sports Compliance
Football is a global business, but many clubs and agencies are still expected to manage complex, high-value international flows with relatively small finance teams. We are entering the sector because our role is not simply to execute a transaction; it is to help clients build the right payment, banking and currency-risk structure around it. Lagom’s specialist compliance expertise makes this a genuinely complementary partnership.
William Fuller, Co-Founder & Sales Director , Orbis Exchange Group
The first co-authored piece from the two firms is scheduled for publication later this year. Lagom Sports Compliance also runs a programme of free training and monthly webinars for club executives, agents and investors, with details at lagomsportscompliance.com.
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. The Football Governance Act 2025 established the Independent Football Regulator for the top five divisions of English men's football. The licensing rulebook was finalised on 1 July 2026. Provisional licence applications open on 1 November 2026 and close on 26 February 2027, with the regime binding from the 2027/28 season.
2. Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, brings professional football clubs and licensed football agents within the scope of EU anti-money laundering obligations from 10 July 2029. United Kingdom clubs are not regulated persons under the Money Laundering Regulations, but remain subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000.
About Lagom Sports Compliance
Lagom Sports Compliance is the leading specialist governance, risk, compliance and anti-financial crime advisory firm built exclusively for professional football. Founded by Jonathan Greenstein and Isabel Lemes, the firm advises clubs, agents, investors and competition organisers across the United Kingdom and the European Union on Independent Football Regulator licensing, EU anti-money laundering obligations, UEFA financial sustainability requirements, football agent regulation and operational resilience. Its consultants come from regulated financial services backgrounds and provide hands-on delivery capacity alongside advisory support. Lagom Sports Compliance is a trading name of Lagom Consultants Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 15527181. lagomsportscompliance.com
About Orbis Exchange Group
Orbis Exchange Group is a global payments and treasury partner with offices in London, Dubai and Los Angeles. The firm supports individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises and corporates with cross-border payments in more than 130 currencies to over 180 countries, named multi-currency accounts, foreign exchange risk management and lending solutions, delivered through a network of established banking, fintech and payment partners and supported by dedicated account management and an online platform. Payment and e-money services are provided by appropriately authorised third-party providers. Orbis Exchange Group Limited, company no. 11360185.orbis-exchange.com
Media contacts
Lagom Sports Compliance: Jonathan Greenstein – jg@lagomsportscompliance.com
Orbis Exchange Group: William Fuller – williamfuller@orbis-exchange.co.uk