Previously we wrote about Electronic Money Institution in Lithuania which has been under investigation, being under suspicion by the German prosecutor's office for using it to steal more than € 100 million from Wirecard in the weeks before its collapse.

All companies – Electronic Money Institutions in Lithuania and Payment Institutions in Lithuania are obliged to meet the criteria of AML in Lithuania.  Board member of the Bank of Lithuania, Marius Jurgilas, responsible for the supervision, rejected criticism from German and Lithuanian legislators about the untimely inadequate supervision of EMI in Lithuania UAB “Finolita Unio” and stressed that this has impacted review of many FinTech companies in the Baltic States, with some financial licenses being revoked.

According to the Bank of Lithuania, the German financial market supervisory authority admitted that problems with Wirecard arose only in June 2020. To immediately assess their potential impact on the Lithuanian financial market and possible violation of AML in Lithuania, the Bank of Lithuania immediately turned to the participants in the domestic financial market, as well as PI in Lithuania and EMI in Lithuania, and found out that the Wirecard group provided various services to 11 participants in the Lithuanian financial market, it was determined that the bankruptcy of the Wirecard group would not pose a serious threat to the business continuity of companies operating in Lithuania. This assessment proved to be correct.

After determining the internal relations of Electronic Money Institution in Lithuania UAB “Finolita Unio” with Wirecard companies, the Bank of Lithuania initiated enhanced supervision of the company's operations: it analyzed the situation, relationships between companies and cash flows, and constantly communicated with the management of Electronic Money Institution in Lithuania UAB “Finolita Unio”.

In the summer of 2020 to prevent compliance of AML in Lithuania the Bank of Lithuania also contacted the financial market supervisors of the United Kingdom and Singapore with a request to provide any potentially negative information about the company's shareholders. After assessing all the circumstances, including the data received from the CENTROlink payment system, as well as potential threats, in September 2020, a decision was made to conduct a special investigation of activities of the Electronic Money institution in Lithuania.

To find out more detailed information regarding the requirements of EMI in Lithuania or PI in Lithuania, do not hesitate to contact our lawyers in Lithuania at info@gencs.eu 

Tel.: +371 67240090