Bank of Lithuania to provide financial institution license for fintech companies

Bank of Lithuania announced that it will provide fintech companies in EU with preliminary solutions to financial institution license enquiries within one week, Finextra reported.

The program ‘Newcomer’ will be applied to fintech companies, which already posses license from another EU country and would like to move their place of residence to Lithuania. A board member of the Lithuanian central bank announced the commitment during a London visit, stating that the bank is promoting the country as an investment location for British-based fintech companies. The complete authorization will be issued 2-6 months later depending on the type of license.

“With a view to providing favorable conditions for FinTech companies that are considering setting up in Lithuania, we have made a number of improvements to the system which will be felt by companies from the very start. We, the Bank of Lithuania, can ensure that a company which is licensed in another country and wishes to set up in Lithuania can expect to receive a preliminary response with regard to a license in Lithuania within a week,” Marius Jurgilas, a Board Member at the Bank of Lithuania explained as reported by finextra.

The fintech companies that intend to set up in Lithuania will receive complete assistance from Invest Lithuania team and the central bank will provide aid and consult them on the preparation of the documents required for a license.

“By providing favourable conditions, we aim to make Lithuania the most attractive country in the region for FinTech companies. And we are delighted that our goal is being supported by the positive attitude of the public sector towards new technology-based business and its support,” he added.

Potential fintech companies across the globe have shown interest in Lithuanian fintech market and three companies: the UK fintech start-up Revolut, China-based international settlement company International Business Settlement, and Moneta International a payment platform developer established by Israeli investors, will establish operations in the country. The bank also confirmed that other fintech firms from countries including Singapore, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Israel, among others are considering Lithuania as their fintech investment spot.