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

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.

The Newcomer Programme includes the following:

• Initial information about regulatory environment and licensing process directly from the Bank of Lithuania;
• A possibility to present your business plan to the regulator and check whether it complies with requirements set out the applicable laws;
• Consultations with the regulator;
• Meetings with the Bank of Lithuania.

If you are planning to meet with the Bank of Lithuania under the Newcomer Programme, here are our TOP 3 tips:

• Have a thorough business model prepared. You should be ready to present your business model, your target market, and 3Y financial forecasts. When dealing with the supervisory institution, it is always better to be more pessimistic rather than too optimistic.
• Be ready to be challenged by the regulator during the Newcomer meeting. If you know the weak or risky points of your business model, be ready in advance to address them. For instance, would your target market be considered to be high-risk clients? Be ready to present the measures that you will use to mitigate TF/ML risk.
• As your company aims to act in the financial market, the financial stability, reputation and the source of funds of the shareholders of the financial market participant are crucially important. Be ready to disclose the shareholding structure, activities of the shareholders as well as the source of funds of the company’s capital.

Need more information on this matter? Download our guide to know more about settling fintech business in Lithuania.