By The LiquidTrust team
LiquidTrust is a payments innovation company serving FIs, B2B platforms and SMBs globally.

Compliance in marketplaces isn’t paperwork—it’s architecture. When the platform orchestrates payments for third parties, obligations change: who can hold funds, how verification happens, and how evidence is captured. LiquidTrust™ helps operators implement compliance as part of the payment flow, not bolted on after launch.

What “B2B marketplace compliance requirements” actually cover

• Identity: KYB (Know Your Business) and KYC (Know Your Customer) for each party.

• Financial crimes: AML (Anti‑Money Laundering) and sanctions screening.

• Licensing & custody: staying out of the flow of funds, or using licensed custody.

• Auditability: logs and evidence chains that reconstruct who did what, when.

Glossary: KYB/KYC verify counterparties; AML prevents illicit use; sanctions screening blocks prohibited parties.

See the step‑by‑step approach in Building a compliant marketplace payments framework.

Why multi‑party flows create new obligations

Marketplaces facilitate payments between third parties; that often means the platform may not legally hold funds without proper licensing. A safe design is to route payments through licensed custody while maintaining full transparency and control. This avoids unlicensed escrow behavior and reduces regulatory exposure.

The minimum viable compliance stack

1) KYB/KYC that fits SMB reality

• Progressive checks with clear status.

• Data reuse to avoid re‑asking.

• Support for sole props and cross‑border entities.

2) AML + sanctions with continuous screening

• Real‑time checks at onboarding and pre‑payout.

• Risk‑based tiers for higher‑value orders.

• Clear operator console for exceptions.

3) Evidence and audit logs

• Tamper‑evident event streams for every action.

• Timeline reconstruction for disputes and audits.

• Exportable reports mapped to regulator expectations.

4) Conditional release (Protected Pay with Micro Escrow™)

• Hold funds in licensed, segregated accounts; release on verifiable conditions.

• Align milestones to goods, services, or staged deliveries.
  Glossary: Micro Escrow™ is a digital, transaction‑level escrow that holds funds in licensed, segregated accounts and releases them on verifiable conditions.

Implementation blueprint

• Model your payment roles and flows (payer(s), payee(s), fees, commissions).

• Decide custody: stay out‑of‑funds or use licensed custody with clear release logic.

• Instrument logs/events before launch; test dispute reconstruction.

• Document policies: onboarding, screening cadence, exception handling, evidence retention.

For broader context, see our State of B2B marketplace payments, how to accept payments on a B2B marketplace, and five compliance lessons.

Learn more about how LiquidTrust helps B2B marketplaces build payment trust.