Thought Leadership

Darius Amšiejus

General overview of employee share options in the Republic of Lithuania

17 September 2024

Since the introduction of an exemption from personal income tax related to granting share options to employees back in February 2020, employee share options have become one of the most attractive tools to motivate employees and attract or retain the best talents in Lithuania.

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Justinas Jarusevičius

Is Europe’s fintech regulatory climate stifling innovation?

4 September 2024

The fintech landscape in Europe is at a pivotal juncture, especially in the wake of the Wirecard scandal that rocked the industry in 2020. Lithuania, once a rising star among European fintech hubs, found itself at the center of this controversy, highlighting the complex balance between fostering innovation and ensuring robust regulatory oversight.

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Justinas Jarusevičius, Paulius Grendelis

Losing everything and winning: BrucBond wins against the Bank of Lithuania

16 July 2024

While we are in the hustle and bustle of elections with millions lost and ambitions insulted in Lithuania, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued a historic ruling.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Lithuanian fintech market review

25 January 2024

In recent years, Lithuania has established itself as a prominent fintech hub in Europe, driven by a proactive regulatory environment. The country's fintech sector, particularly in payments, has flourished, attracting a diverse range of participants.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Cryptocurrency regulation in Lithuania and Estonia prior to MiCA: key differences

20 October 2023

As Regulation 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Cryptocurrency Markets ("MiCA Regulation") has not entered into force yet, EU Member States have different rules on the regulation of virtual currency exchanges and depositary virtual currency wallet operators. While these types of activities are not subject to harsh regulations in Lithuania, undertakings willing to provide such services in Estonia have to go through a rather complex licensing process.

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Justinas Jarusevičius

With the economy being in a bit of a bind, Lithuania has a cause for hope

16 June 2023

Lithuania may find itself in economic turmoil, but it is also experiencing strong political unity in the face of the war in Ukraine, according to litigation Partner Justinas Jarusevičius.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Legal and policy changes implemented as a result of the war

13 March 2023

The war in Ukraine has irrevocably altered the face of Europe, and legislative landscapes are no exception. Partner Rimantas Daujotas reviewed the legislative updates in Lithuania for CEE Legal Matters.

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Rokas Jankus

The main internal concerns of law firms during tough times

13 March 2023

The past two years have brought about tectonic shifts across all industries, business sectors, and economies. Adapting to the ever-changing concept of a “new normal” became an everyday task, and law firms were no exception.

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Henrikas Stelmokaitis

Presented an article regarding employee poaching for Concurrences

23 May 2022

Our firm’s competition practice lead Henrikas Stelmokaitis persistently educates on unfair competition and represents clients in disputes regarding employee poaching.  One of the most notable journals on competition law in Europe "Concurrences" published Henrikas’ article “The no-poaching law meets Article 101: where is the line?”

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Mantas Juozaitis

When did a dispute with the State Tax Inspectorate become a judgment on business reputation?

12 October 2021

Today, in litigation with the State Tax Inspectorate (STI), businesses encounter a lot of risks: gaining unwanted publicity and attracting the label of the scammer, losing the trust of business partners and clients, incurring financial losses, losing funding, and ultimately losing employees. All these circumstances determine why businessmen, even when being right, avoid engaging in (public) discussions with the STI and do not go to court.

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Dmitrij Mačiugin

Post-Brexit litigation features and recommendations for business

23 February 2021

Since January 1st, 2021 the Brexit transition period completely ended. For the business and private subjects of Lithuania, it means that before filing the claim/complaint against a UK subject or negotiating with it over the terms of a future contract it is essential to be aware of the new post-Brexit legal landscape.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Important changes in legislation and first homework for Fintech companies in 2021

4 February 2021

Fintech companies holding e-money or payment institution licences are reminded to:

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Sigita Zavišienė

2020 Review: Fintech sector has almost doubled

14 December 2020

The year 2020 that’s drawing to a close has been an exceptional year for all Lithuanian and international business sectors, including Fintech companies, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to the Lithuanian Payments Market Review 2020 published by the Bank of Lithuania, the latter companies have been quite successful at responding to this challenge, having expediently reorganised customer service flows and having guaranteed secure payment methods in e-commerce.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Need to know for EMIs/PIs: as of 2021 more activity reports to be submitted to the Bank of Lithuania

15 September 2020

In order to identify possible risks arising in the activities of electronic money and payment institutions (“Institutions”) as early as possible, the Bank of Lithuania will require even more activity reports to be submitted as of 2021.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Risk Management in an Organisation: Evolution of the Three Lines of Defence Model

8 September 2020

An effective internal risk management and control system is a vital component of any organisation, especially a financial institution. The results of an international study reveal that the internal risk management and control system in organisations is usually based on the Three Lines of Defence Model.

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Justinas Jarusevičius

Lithuanian freezing order – key issues to know when you try to get one

4 September 2020

Lithuanian Code of Civil procedure establishes a freezing order as a tool that could be used to freeze the assets owned by a defendant in order to safeguard the enforcement of the court judgment.

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Sigita Zavišienė

TOP 3 things you need to know about Newcomer meeting with the Bank of Lithuania

20 July 2020

Are you a Fintech company looking for a jurisdiction authorised to provide financial services? Do you feel uncertain about as to whether your business model is credible to receive e-money, payment institution or any other licence needed to offer financial services? If you answered “yes” to both questions then the Newcomer Programme offered by the Bank of Lithuania is for you.

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Sigita Zavišienė

What are the options for UK fintech to act in Europe after Brexit?

15 May 2020

Despite the fact that the EU member states have been on lockdown for the past few months, it seems that the UK government still has an ambitious plan that the Brexit transition period will end on 31 December of this year (“Transition Period”) as it has been originally set.

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Laurynas Ramonas

Competition law and response to COVID-19

15 April 2020

The world seeks for a flexible approach to competition law application?

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Sigita Zavišienė

Reporting calendar for payment and electronic institutions

21 February 2020

Reporting to the supervisory authority is one of the compliance part for payment and electronic institutions. We counted that these financial market participants have to submit to the Bank of Lithuania twenty reports representing business activities and financials.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

The 2nd Edition of Arbitration in Lithuania is online

19 February 2020

The 2nd Edition of Arbitration in Lithuania is the only comprehensive report on Lithuanian arbitration law and practice in English.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Requirements for disclosure of pre-contractual information

14 January 2020

Although the field of provision of financial services at a distance has made significant progress, the rules of the provision of online financial services in the European Union (EU) are established in Directive 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 September 2002 concerning the distance marketing of financial services (“Directive)”, which was adopted 17 (!) years ago. The provisions of the Directive were transposed into the Law on Consumer Right Protection. It is obvious that Directive 2002 is not suitable for regulating provision of financial services via the Internet or mobile phone and it is incompatible with Fintech models applied in financial markets.

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Sigita Zavišienė

National security screening process

4 November 2019

Financial and credit sectors are of strategic importance for national security as this is set out in the Law on the Protection of Objects of Importance to Ensuring National Security of the Republic of Lithuania (Law). As activities of the e-money and payment institutions as well as other financial institutions (FIs) fall within a scope of financial and credit sectors, the national security screening has to be completed.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Brexit: licensing financial services remains important

11 October 2019

1 November 2019 is supposed to be the date when the United Kingdom (UK) leaves the European Union (EU) “family”. The UK will then become a “third country”. In the event of “no deal” situation, as of the withdrawal date, the EU rules in the field of banking and payment services will cease to apply for the UK. For this reason, institutions like Fintech law firms in Lithuania are very likely to feel the increase in workloads.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Impact of FinTech on PIs and EMIs business models

24 September 2019

The payments landscape in the EU is undergoing significant transformation due to the introduction of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the ongoing FinTech developments. Taking this into account the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a Report on the impact of FinTech on payment institutions' (PIs) and electronic money institutions' (EMIs) business models.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Strong customer authentication under PSD2

22 July 2019

The revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) was published in November 2015, entered into force on 13 January 2016 and applies since 13 January 2018. The Directive brings fundamental changes to the payments market in the EU, in particular by requiring SCA to be applied by payment services providers (PSPs) when carrying out remote electronic transactions.

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Sigita Zavišienė

EBA’s opinion on the nature of passport notifications

25 April 2019

Qualification of the activities of the payment institutions (PIs) and e-money institutions (“EMIs) in a host Member States (MS) using agents or distributors is always a complicated task which has not been specifically addressed so far. To this end, for the first time, the European Banking Authority (EBA) has issued an opinion giving a clarity on the criteria determining when the use of an agent or distributor triggers an “establishment” of the appointing institution in the host Member State (MS) or falls under the free provision of services.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Brief introduction of the specialised bank regime

17 August 2018

As of 1 January 2017, a specialised banks regime has been launched in Lithuanian legislation. Specialised banks shall be subject to the same requirements that are applicable for traditional banks. In contrast with traditional banks, the scope of services to be provided by specialised banks is limited (they cannot provide investment services or manage investment undertakings), however specialised banks are subject to less stringent initial capital requirements (EUR 1M vs EUR 5M).

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Sigita Zavišienė

Things to know about getting a Fintech License in Lithuania

23 July 2018

There are three types of Fintech financial institutions that can be licensed in Lithuania: Licence of the specialized bank, E-money Institution and Payment Institution. It is important to know how they differ and which one suits you the best.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Lithuania expands its leadership in Fintech: the ICO guidelines issued

11 June 2018

With great success in Fintech, the Lithuanian Government moves forward. On June 7, the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance issued comprehensive guidelines on initial coin offering (ICO) bringing clarity on launching ICO projects, or sales of virtual tokens. As announced in the Ministry’s press release, these ICO Guidelines are aimed at “attracting and creating a favourable and more secure environment for fintech and blockchain business in Lithuania”.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

The Arbitral Tribunal’s anti-suit injunctions in European Union Law

11 May 2018

Dr. Rimantas Daujotas contributed an article "The Arbitral Tribunal's anti-suit injunctions in European Union Law – the West tankers & Gazprom case" for Czech (& Central European) Yearbook of Arbitration Volume VIII.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Will it be easier for Fintech companies to open bank accounts?

3 May 2018

In recent years, the number of licences issued to payment as well as e-money institutions in Lithuania has increased significantly – the said licences form the basis for the majority of Fintech companies to operate. With the increase in the number of these licences Fintech companies have been facing a practical issue: banks refuse to open payment accounts for them without disclosing the actual reason of such rejection. It could be argued, that banks may be reluctant to establish business relations with Fintech companies because of ML/TF risk that clients of payment and e-money institutions may pose and the liability that banks could face under the ML/TF regulation which nowadays is getting stricter and stricter (AMLD5 as an example). However, one should not overlook another, much more subtle, reason – banks are unwilling to open bank accounts for their competitors.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Lithuanian Parliament adopted the laws transposing the PSD2

18 April 2018

On 17 April 2018, the Lithuanian Parliament adopted the laws transposing the 2nd Payment Services Directive. The newly adopted laws also address the inaccuracies detected in the practice of application of the current legislation.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Victory of E energija in the case against the Republic of Latvia

22 January 2018

Attorney, expert of international arbitration Dr. Rimantas Daujotas commented for Verslo žinios the victory of the Lithuanian company E energija in the case against the Republic of Latvia in investment arbitration. "This process was qualified as a test of ICSID and investment arbitration - it had to show if it was generally possible and worth to arbitrate in the ICSID arbitration, requiring a relatively small amount of damages," the expert explained.

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Sigita Zavišienė

Lithuania is getting ready for implementation of the PSD2

20 December 2017

Less than one month is left to transpose the new Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in to the national laws of the EU member states. As of the said date entities seeking to obtain a licence to provide payment services must comply with licencing requirements set out in Article 5 of the PSD2. By 13 July 2018 payment services providers licenced under the first Payment Services Directive (PSD1) must update their licencing documents and submit the supplemented versions to a regulatory authority.

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Sigita Zavišienė

The ESMA issued statements on initial coin offerings

13 November 2017

The European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) issued two statements on initial coin offerings.

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Ramūnas Audzevičius, Denis Parchajev

Russian Arbitration reform through the lens of Lithuanian Law

13 October 2017

Partner Ramūnas Audzevičius and associate Denis Parchajev contributed an article “Russian Arbitration reform through the lens of Lithuanian Law on Commercial Arbitration” for the annual arbitration law journal of Lithuania “Arbitražas. Teorija ir praktika 2017”.

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Sigita Zavišienė

PSD2: Stricter licencing process upcoming

10 May 2017

The second Payment Services Directive adopted on 25 November 2015 (PSD2) aims to address issues generated around the digital revolution with respect to making payments online. The widely discussed changes introduced by PSD2 will have a significant impact on, amongst other things, the payment institutions, legal entities that have already been authorised to provide and execute payment services (PIs) under the respective national laws implementing the first Payment Services Directive (PSD1). These institutions will have to adapt their activities to PSD2 requirements, including those applicable to authorisation as PIs.

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Ramūnas Audzevičius, Denis Parchajev

Role of Lithuanian national courts in the arbitral proceedings

31 March 2017

Partner Ramūnas Audzevičius and associate Denis Parchajev prepared an article "Role of Lithuanian National Courts in the Arbitral Proceedings" for law journal "Teisė" vol. 102.

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Ramūnas Audzevičius, Denis Parchajev

Problemic aspects of applying res judicata in international arbitration

10 October 2016

Partner Ramūnas Audzevičius and associate Denis Parchajev contributed an article "Problemic aspects of applying res judicata in international arbitration" for the annual arbitration law journal of Lithuania "Arbitražas. Teorija ir praktika 2016".

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Arbitration between Philippines and China on territories located in the South China Sea

12 July 2016

Senior associate Rimantas Daujotas contributed an article "Arbitration between Philippines and China on territories located in the South China Sea".

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Theory of the arbitration: the perspective of legal realism

28 June 2016

Senior associate Rimantas Daujotas has contributed an article "Theory of the arbitration. The perspective of legal realism".

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Denis Parchajev

Key changes to the Regulation Brussels I

28 April 2016

Arbitration expert Denis Parchajev prepared an article "Key changes to the Regulation “Brussels I” and the future of arbitration in the context of the application of the regulation" for the law journal "Teisė" vol. 98.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Why Hague Court cancelled arbitration decision between Yukos and Russia?

20 April 2016

Senior associate Rimantas Daujotas contributed an article "Why Hague court canceled arbitration decision between Yukos and Russia for 50 milliard USD?"

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

International economy sanctions: structure and disputes

29 March 2016

Senior associate Rimantas Daujotas contributed an article "International economy sanctions. Structure and disputes".

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Global territorial dispute resolution: main methods and principles

3 March 2016

Senior associate Rimantas Daujotas contributed an article "Global territorial dispute resolution. Main methods and principles".

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Denis Parchajev

Pathological arbitration clauses in Lithuanian law

28 January 2016

Associate Denis Parchajev prepared an article "Pathological Arbitration Clauses in Lithuanian Case Law" for CIS Arbitration Forum.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas, Ramūnas Audzevičius

Yukos arbitration: tribunal’s jurisdiction and standards of investors’ protection

26 November 2015

Partner Ramūnas Audzevičius and associate Rimantas Daujotas have contributed a publication "Yukos arbitration: tribunal’s jurisdiction and standards of investors’ protection" which was recently released in the annual arbitration law journal of Lithuania “Arbitražas. Teorija ir praktika 2015”.

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Edvinas Lenkauskas, Mantas Juozaitis

Implementation of the EU VAT Triangulation provisions in Lithuania

24 November 2015

Senior associate Mantas Juozaitis and associate Edvinas Lenkauskas have contributed their expertise to the article "Implementation of the EU VAT Triangulation provisions in Lithuania"  in the Lithuanian tax news website Mokesčių žinios.

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Justinas Jarusevičius

Review of recent Lithuanian case law development on the application of the New York Convention

12 November 2015

Motieka & Audzevičius associate Justinas Jarusevičius has contributed his latest publication "Lithuania has restrained the unruly horse of public policy" to Kluwer Arbitration Blog.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Vienna convention on the law of treaties and treaty interpretation

28 October 2015

Associate Rimantas Daujotas has contributed an article entitled “Vienna convention on the law of treaties and treaty interpretation”.

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Denis Parchajev

Contributed to American Review of International Arbitration 2015

8 October 2015

Associate Denis Parchajev has contributed to The American Review of International Arbitration 2015.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Published the book on international investment law and arbitration in the Baltics

2 September 2015

Associate Rimantas Daujotas has had the first book in the Baltics on international investment law and arbitration published.

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Mantas Juozaitis

Excise duty exemptions for fuel products and problems of their application in practice

12 August 2015

Senior associate Mantas Juozaitis has contributed their expertise to the article "Excise duty exemptions for fuel products and problems of their application in practice" in the Lithuanian tax news website Mokesčių žinios.

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Mantas Juozaitis

The importance of CMR waybill in proving a right to apply a 0% VAT rate

23 June 2015

Senior associate Mantas Juozaitis has contributed their expertise to the article “The importance of CMR waybill in proving a right to apply a 0% VAT rate for the supply of goods to other EU Member States: relevant case-law” published in the tax news website “Mokesčių žinios”.

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Mantas Juozaitis

VAT obligations upon the sale of assets in a public auction by the court bailiff

2 June 2015

Senior associate Mantas Juozaitis has contributed to the recently published article "VAT obligations upon the sale of assets in a public auction by the court bailiff" in the Lithuanian tax news website Mokesčių žinios (Tax News).

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas

Challenge of arbitrators in international investment arbitration

6 May 2015

Our associate Rimantas Daujotas has published his latest publication "Challenge of arbitrators in international investment arbitration", which was recently released in the periodical scientific law journal of Vilnius University "VU mokslo darbai. Teisė".

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Edvinas Lenkauskas, Mantas Juozaitis

The supply of care workers by a temporary-work agency is a taxable transaction for VAT purposes

21 April 2015

Motieka & Audzevičius tax experts Mantas Juozaitis and Edvinas Lenkauskas have published an article on "The supply of care workers by a temporary-work agency is a taxable transaction for VAT purposes" in the Lithuanian tax news website Mokesčių žinios.

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Mantas Juozaitis

Novelties in the implementation of tax payer rights for VAT deductions

13 April 2015

Motieka & Audzevičius senior associate Mantas Juozaitis has recently recently published an article on the "Novelties in the implementation of tax payer rights for VAT deductions: relevant tax legislation" in the Lithuanian tax news website "Mokesčių žinios" (Tax News).

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Mantas Juozaitis

Differences between the contracts of real estate lease and service provision

3 March 2015

Motieka & Audzevičius’ tax expert Mantas Juozaitis shares his insights on the theme “Differences between the contracts of real estate lease and service provision”.

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Edvinas Lenkauskas, Mantas Juozaitis

The victory of the taxpayer in the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania

11 February 2015

Tax experts Mantas Juozaitis and Edvinas Lenkauskas have recently examined a particularly interesting case in Lithuanian tax case law in which the taxpayer won a case against the tax administrator in an article published in the Lithuanian publication "Mokesčių žinios".

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Mantas Juozaitis

Fixed establishment for VAT purposes

27 January 2015

Motieka & Audzevičius’ tax law specialist Mantas Juozaitis shared his expertise on the subject "Fixed establishment for VAT purposes" in the Lithuanian tax journal Mokesčių žinios. In the article, the authors examine the fixed establishment definition for VAT purposes in accordance with ECJ practice.

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Edvinas Lenkauskas

VAT changes for e-services

3 December 2014

Tax law expert Edvinas Lenkauskas discusses VAT changes for e-services in a recent article published in Mokesčių žinios (Tax News), a Lithuanian publication focusing on tax issues.

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Dr. Rimantas Daujotas, Ramūnas Audzevičius

The concept of legitimate expectation in investor-state arbitration

21 July 2012

Ramūnas Audzevičius and Rimantas Daujotas contributed an article “The concept of legitimate expectation in investor-state arbitration and the European Court of Human Rights” which was published in Russian Bulletin of the International Commercial Arbitration No 2 (6) 2012.

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