Usually requirements for credit institution licenses are the most rigorous, since such institutions are required to obtain a banking license in Lithuania in order to have the exclusive right to accept deposits and other repayable funds from non-professional market participants. Thus, companies which want to receive deposits from non-professional market participants must, prior to this, obtain a banking licence from the Bank of Lithuania. After recent amendments of the Lithuania Law on Banks not only a regular but and specialised banking license can be acquired.

A specialised bank license in Lithuania is a new development tool, which seeks to create a favourable environment for Lithuanian and foreign startups, which are seeking to provide various financial services in the European Economic Area. The key feature of a specialised bank in Lithuania is the minimum capital requirement of EUR 1 million, while for a traditional bank it is EUR 5 million.

Compared to a traditional banking license, a specialised bank may provide somewhat fewer services – it is subject to limitation in investment and a number of other financial services. A specialised bank can provide following services:

• acceptance of deposits and other repayable funds;
•  lending (including mortgage loans);
• financial leasing (leasing);
• payment services;
• the issuance and administration of travel vouchers, drafts and other payment instruments,
• provision of financial guarantees and financial guarantees;
• financial intermediation (agent activities);
• money management;
• creditworthiness assessment services;
• rental of deposit boxes;
• currency exchange (in cash);
• electronic money issuance.

In order to receive a specialised licence an applicant will have to provide:

1. Document confirming that the shareholders have sufficiently high repute and are financially sound.
2. Proves that the management of the specialised bank have sufficiently high repute, the qualification and experience that allow them to adequately perform their duties (in addition, at least one head of the bank’s administration must know the Lithuanian language and permanently reside in the Republic of Lithuania);
3. The operating business plan must correspond to the possibilities of the bank’s shareholders to implement it, while the prospective bank must, at the time of authorisation, be prepared to provide financial services in a safe and sound manner.
4. The articles of association, operating plan, management and organisational structure, risk management system, remuneration policy and practice, accounting system, internal control system, technical, information and technological security means, premises, insurance of property of a bank applying for a licence must ensure safe and sound activities of the bank and comply with the relevant legal acts will be required to provide too.
5. The requirements for legal form, minimum capital, and registered office  will have to be proven too.

What is the time frame and state fee for the banking licence in Lithuania?

Application must be assessed within 6 months of submission of proper and sufficiently informative documents to the Bank of Lithuania. State fee for the specialised bank licence in Lithuania is EUR 50,683.

Should you have any questions about specialised bank licence in Lithuania, Estonia or Latvia, please do not hesitate to contact our English speaking lawyers at  info@gencs.eu.

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