An EMI permit can help your organization expand its business. Having received a Lithuanian EMI license, you will have the opportunity to engage in activities related to virtual currency legally: conduct transactions, create storage facilities for cryptocurrency, transfer money to accounts of foreign companies, and so on.

General data

You can provide services with virtual currency in the European Economic Area and do not need to be additionally licensed in another country that is part of the EEA. This type of licensing allows you to operate in other countries. Moreover, a licensing option involves doing crypto business only in this country, but limits can be set on financial turnover.

Currently, this country is the leader in the EU in terms of issued Fintech licenses. The State Central Bank has been loyal to companies throughout the year since its inception, and a simplified scheme for obtaining housing is provided for start-ups.

Licensing is carried out by the Lithuanian Central Bank, which also acts as a regulatory body that works by the EU Directive (legislation for e-currency). After submitting a package of papers for licensing, the Central Bank will consider it for about three months. If inaccuracies or missing documents are found, it will fulfill a request to fill the gap.

Since Lithuania is a member of SEPA (34 countries in total), which has a single account, Lithuania can pay and receive funds within these states.

The main advantages of an EMI license

It is not for nothing that Lithuania leads among other EU countries because it has a large arsenal of advantages:

  • Simple and fast licensing;
  • You can open an account remotely;
  • loyal tax policy;
  • There are no restrictions on the validity of the license;
  • It is possible to perform remote verification of clients by the KYC program;
  • There are no fines (or minimum) in the first year of the company’s activity.

There are very few disadvantages, but they are:

  • A permit that allows doing business only in this country has restrictions on the company’s financial turnover:
  • It is obligatory to have a physical office in this country.

As you can see, these disadvantages are insignificant compared with the apparent benefits.

The process of getting a permit

It all starts with an initial analysis of your business project. To do this, the Regulator will evaluate your submitted documentation. The project evaluation procedure will take up to 1 month.

After that, pre-licensing begins, which can last 2-3 months. At this stage, the infrastructure is analyzed, a real office is opened, the business plan and the expected result of the activity are carefully studied, and all shareholders and employees of the organization are checked. A company is formed at this stage, and a bank account is opened to transfer the authorized capital (350,000 euros) to it. Conditions must be met – at least four company employees must be present in Lithuania, and the physical office must be in Lithuania.

After a preliminary check of the documentation and assessing the company’s prospects, the direct licensing process begins, lasting 4-6 months. This stage provides for the consideration of legal and financial papers, the organization management system, which IT products are provided for the operation of the company, as well as the submission of an application and payment of government fees. In addition, the critical point is that the company will be checked for compliance with AML and KYC (including KYT) requirements and much more.

Then, they move on to the organization’s infrastructure and perform a complete check of the software (2-3 months), which must be developed per the permitting requirements of EMI. This check is aimed at ensuring the technical performance of the company. Also, at this stage, various consultations for company employees can be carried out.

After licensing, additional technical services are provided if necessary: accounting and auditing, connecting to SWIFT, opening insurance accounts, and much more.

List of papers provided to the regulator

To start the permitting process, the Regulator must provide a package of required papers for permitting. Here is the main list of papers below:

  • charter of the firm and corporate documents (including details);
  • a detailed business project, including the activities of the company and its structure;
  • documentary evidence of the presence of a share capital contribution;
  • identity cards of the founders and confirmation of the absence of a criminal record;
  • confirmation of the implementation of the AML and KYC policy;
  • documents for a physical office: a lease agreement or an agreement on purchasing premises in Lithuania.

It is necessary to provide all required by the regulator papers; otherwise, the license cannot be obtained. In addition to the documents listed above, a description of the expenditure of financial resources and a mechanism for management activities will also be required.