AEMI license in Lithuania

Today we will talk about a state that 2 years ago regulated the procedure of getting an AEMI permission. Businessmen who have decided to operate in this area and want to obtain a license for a remittance system in the country will now be able to remotely register accounts for their clients.

A license for virtual currency in Lithuania can be issued within a few months (maximum six months), which is one of the advantages of the lawfullment. To deal with the details of establishing a business in this area, use the services of competent specialists.

The owner of an Authorized electronic money institution license in Lithuania is permitted to supply any favors in the EEA without the need to go through the permission process in any other state that is a member of the EEA. 

The holder of a limited license will be able to provide services on the territory of the country. It is worth considering that some restrictions will be applied in relation to the turnover of the company.

Requirements for AEMI license in Lithuania

• Compliance of the submitted documents: the submitted documents must meet the demands of the regulatory and legal acts regulating the activity of AEMI and their supervision; all correct data established in legal acts or requested additionally must be provided; 
• Compliance with the minimum capital demands for AEMI: according to the provisions of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania AEMI must have a minimum initial capital of at least EUR 350,000, and an AEMI engaged in limited activities is not subject to this demand. The average amount of electronic money in circulation for the previous 6 months of an AEMI that has been issued a payment institution license for limited activity (where the activity provided for in the business plan is not carried out) cannot exceed 900,000 euros per month, except in the case provided for in paragraph 7 of the article 12 of the Law. If this limit is exceeded, the institution must, within 30 days after discovering this fact, apply to the Bank of country for obtaining an AEMI license for unlimited activity;
• Fitness and suitability of AEMI and its shareholders or holders of voting rights: entities that have a significant share in AEMI’s share capital and/or voting rights must be able to ensure sound and prudent management of AEMI, be of sufficiently high reputation and financial soundness ( an AEMI permission for limited activities is not subject to demands as to the suitability and propriety of shareholders or voting rights holders);
• Suitability and appropriateness of managers: managers of electronic money institutions must be of good repute and possess the qualifications and experience necessary for the proper performance of their duties.
• The operational plan must be consistent with the ability of the AEMI’s founders (shareholders or voting rights holders) to implement it, while the future AEMI must, at the time of authorisation, be ready to provide financial services in a safe and secure manner.

Advantages of a Authorized e-money license in Lithuania

Such a financial structure makes it possible to solve the main complexity of the current world economic situation for a large transnational business — banking services and international transfers (especially in US dollars). There are 10 advantages and features that are open to AEMI owners:

• Receiving SWIFT.
• Issuance of IBAN accounts to clients of the institution.
• Remote opening of accounts, both for individuals and legal entities.
• Issuance of Visa or MasterCard payment cards linked to the client’s account.
• The ability to make payments with banks around the world in US dollars/euros/pounds sterling and other currencies.
• Independent decision-making on making payments and opening accounts. Including correspondent accounts around the world.
• Ability to create its own anti-money laundering AML department.
• Provision of services that allow you to place cash on a payment account or withdraw it, as well as all operations necessary for the operation of a payment account.
• Performance of remittance operations, including the transfer of funds to the payment account of the user’s payment service provider or the second payment service provider.

Country is currently one of the most favorable jurisdictions for launching an AEMI. The Central State Bank, through which the entire procedure takes place, is very loyal to possible mistakes or shortcomings of the biz organization in the first year of its existence.

How to get an e-money license in Lithuania

Businessmen who wish to issue a license for e-money in Lithuania can contact our company’s employees for advice, and we will also provide support at all stages of establishing a business:

1. First of all, you will need to register a company in country (an analogue of an LLC, authorized capital: at least 350,000 euros).
2. Next comes the stage of opening an account for a Lithuanian company. Regardless of whether the company has accounts in other countries, businessmen who want to obtain an AEMI license in Lithuania must open an account in country.
3. Among the leaders must be a citizen of the state, who will have experience in this field and be competent.
4. The manager of the company (for the entire period of the company’s existence) must live in the country.
5. There must be at least one natural person among the founders.

Documents that needed to get license in Lithuania

• constituent documentation;
• passport of the beneficiary and confirmation of the place of residence of the beneficiary;
• business plan;
• a description of the security procedure for future clients;
• a document confirming the existence of an account in a local bank;
• the lease agreement that confirms the real office.
• additional certificates, if needed (on an individual basis).

Procedure of authorisation

The Bank of Lithuania’s approach to the authorization process for AEMI, as for other institutions, is as open as possible and usually begins long before an application for authorization is submitted to it.

The following main stages of the authorization process can be distinguished:

• submitting an application for obtaining an AEMI license in Lithuania for sale to the Supervisory Service of the Bank of Lithuania (hereinafter – the “Supervisory Service”): within 5 working days, the Supervisory Service checks whether all the necessary documents have been submitted and, if no formal deficiencies are found, accepts the application for consideration;
• consideration of the AEMI license application and the documents attached to it: if there are no deficiencies in the submitted documents, the license is issued in the shortest possible time up to 3 months (for an AEMI license for activities with limited access – within 2 months).However, our experience shows that submitted documents only in exceptional cases do not contain defects; therefore, the Supervisory Service usually provides comments to the AEMI in Lithuania for sale applicants requesting additional information or documents. In this case, the evaluation period is extended.

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