In Lithuania, the activities of financial institutions providing licensed financial services are controlled by the Bank of Lithuania.
Registered financial institutions or companies wishing to provide financial services licensed under Lithuanian law must obtain a license permit.
Licenses are mandatory for credit institutions, electronic money institutions and payment institutions.
What type of license is required depends on the specifics of the services offered, the territory, the planned activity, the size of the planned investments.
There are two types of licenses for electronic money institutions and payment institutions – limited and unlimited. Initially, you can apply for a limited payment institution license. Once the business is established, the EMI license in Lithuania can be changed to unlimited.
The price depends on the type of license. The fee for issuing an unlimited license to an electronic money institution is 1463 euros, for limited activities – 1235 euros. License for an unlimited payment institution – 898 euros, limited activity – 682 euros, and for payment institutions providing only account information service – 693 euros.
Licensing Process
The licensing process remains the same in all cases.
In the case of a limited license, the period is 2 months, which is extended from the moment additional documents or information are provided.
After evaluating all submitted documents, the summarized information must be submitted for consideration to the Council of the Bank of Lithuania, which ultimately decides whether to issue or refuse to issue a license.
Requirements for payment institutions
The initial capital of the payment institution must be at least EUR 20,000 if the payment institution intends to provide money transfer services only. If the payment institution intends to provide only the payment initiation service – at least 50,000 euros. If the payment institution intends to provide more of the services provided for in the payment institution’s articles of association, the capital must be at least EUR 125,000.
A limited activity license does not provide a minimum initial capital requirement. However, with this license, you can only work in Lithuania and provide a limited range of financial services.
Requirements for electronic money institutions
To obtain a license for an electronic money institution, the minimum capital must be 350,000 euros. However, this license also entitles you to provide services in other EU Member States.
An electronic money institution with limited activities, like a payment institution, is not subject to the minimum initial capital requirement, however, this license is valid only in Lithuania.
Certain requirements also apply to company executives, who must be of good repute, qualifications and experience in order to perform their duties properly.
Shareholders must be able to ensure sound management of the electronic money institution, be of good standing and be financially sound.
Foreign financial institutions in Lithuania
A financial institution established in a foreign state may provide services in Lithuania only after obtaining a permit or license in Lithuania. Prior to issuing a permit or license, where applicable, prior consultation with the foreign authority supervising the foreign financial institution is required.
If a financial institution is established in an EU country, it has the right to open a branch in Lithuania and provide financial services on its territory. In such case, the foreign supervisory authority shall notify the supervisory authority of Lithuanian financial institutions of the institution’s business plan, indicating the activities, structure and other information.
Institutions and enterprises that have started their activity in the field of financial services must, in each case, obtain permission from the supervisory authority to register changes in their constituent documents, to establish branches, agencies or other structural units of a legal entity in a place other than their head office, in other cases provided by law.
