Lithuania is a euro area member and one of the EU's largest licensing hubs for electronic money and payment institutions, many of which passport across the EEA from Vilnius. Its Law on Banks offers a specialised bank licence with EUR 1 million minimum capital, and the Bank of Lithuania runs restricted-activity EMI and payment institution licences as an entry route for start-ups.
Risk flagStandard
FATFNot listed
EU AML high-risk listNot listed
EU tax listNot listed
Licence regimes6
CurrencyEUR
S&P ratingA
Next electionOctober 2028
Lithuania is not on the FATF grey or black lists after the June 2026 plenary (17 to 19 June 2026); as an EU Member State it cannot appear on the EU high-risk third country list (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675, last amended by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/46, published 9 January 2026) or on Annex I of the EU tax list (last revised 17 February 2026). Checked 7 October 2026.
Government and politics
Government
Semi-presidential republic
President
Gitanas Nausėda · since July 2019
Prime Minister
Mindaugas Sinkevičius (Social Democratic Party of Lithuania)
Governing parties
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP), Union of Democrats "For Lithuania", Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, Christian Families Alliance
Last election
Parliamentary (Seimas), October 2024
Next election
Parliamentary (Seimas), October 2028. Sinkevičius was approved by the Seimas on 30 June 2026 after Inga Ruginienė's cabinet resigned; his cabinet was sworn in on 14 July 2026.
Legislature
Seimas (unicameral, 141 seats)
Legal system
Civil law system; legislative acts can be appealed to the Constitutional Court
Economy and finance
Population
2.9m (2025)
GDP
USD 94.9bn (2025)
GDP per person
USD 32,839 (2025)
Currency
Euro (EUR), euro
Central bank
Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos bankas, part of the Eurosystem)
Credit rating
S&P A (stable) · Moody's A2 (stable) · Fitch A+ (stable) (as of May 2026)
The largest Baltic economy, combining manufacturing, logistics and agriculture with one of the EU's busiest fintech hubs, where the Bank of Lithuania licenses e-money, payment and specialised banks.
Bank
Bank licence (credit institution)
Minimum capitalUSD 5.6m
TimelineLaw on Banks art. 9(11): decision within 6 months of receipt of the application (or of additional documents), and in any case within 12 months
AuthorityECB, on the basis of an assessment by the Bank of Lithuania (SSM)
EUR 5 million for a regular bank; the Bank of Lithuania notes the requirement may be higher depending on the activities
Law
Republic of Lithuania Law on Banks, art. 2(1) and art. 9(11); Law on Financial Institutions, art. 3(4); Regulation (EU) No 468/2014
Fees
State levy of EUR 4,157 paid to the State Tax Inspectorate before applying (Government Resolution No 1458 of 15 December 2000), as stated by the Bank of Lithuania.
Passporting
Yes: EU/EEA passport under CRD (branches and cross-border services).
Key requirements
Pre-application (ex-ante) assessment with the Bank of Lithuania is recommended
Fit and proper qualifying shareholders with transparent origin of funds
Management of impeccable repute; at least one head of administration must speak Lithuanian
Bank of Lithuania indicates a minimum management staff of about 10 persons (management board, supervisory board, heads of administration, internal audit, CTO, CRO, CLO and others)
Operating plan, risk management, internal control and IT security adequate for safe and sound banking
TimelineSame statutory timeframe as a regular bank: Law on Banks art. 9(11), 6 months, and in any case 12 months
AuthorityECB, on the basis of an assessment by the Bank of Lithuania (SSM)
EUR 1 million minimum capital for a specialised bank (EUR 5 million for a regular bank)
Law
Republic of Lithuania Law on Banks, art. 4(5) (exhaustive list of permitted activities); CRD art. 12(4)
Fees
State levy of EUR 4,157, the same as for a regular banking licence (the Bank of Lithuania states it applies "including that of a specialised banking licence").
Passporting
Yes: as a CRD credit institution it can passport, but only for the activities its licence permits.
Key requirements
Activities limited to the exhaustive list in Law on Banks art. 4(5): restrictions on investment and some other financial services
Can take deposits and lend, so it is a full credit institution supervised under the SSM
All other requirements, the authorisation process and supervision are identical to a regular bank
Same fit and proper, governance and Lithuanian-language management requirements as a regular bank
Timeline3 months from a complete application (2 months for the restricted-activities EMI licence); the clock restarts on submission of additional documents
AuthorityBoard of the Bank of Lithuania
EUR 350,000 initial capital; no minimum initial capital for the restricted-activities EMI licence
Law
Republic of Lithuania Law on Electronic Money and Electronic Money Institutions; Law on Payments, art. 5 (payment services); Directive 2009/110/EC, art. 4
Fees
State levy of EUR 1,463 (EUR 1,235 for the restricted-activities EMI licence), paid to the State Tax Inspectorate before applying.
Passporting
Yes for the full EMI licence (EEA notification procedure); no for the restricted-activities licence.
Key requirements
Restricted-activities EMI licence: valid only in Lithuania, average outstanding e-money capped at EUR 900,000 per month, then must apply for a full licence within 30 days
Fit and proper qualifying shareholders (not required for the restricted-activities licence) and managers
Detailed procedure for managing e-money issuance with segregation of functions
Operating plan consistent with the founders' capacity to implement it
AML/CTF framework; documents reviewed for completeness within 5 business days
Timeline3 months from a complete application; 2 months for the restricted-activities licence (extended by 2 months on submission of additional information)
AuthorityBoard of the Bank of Lithuania
EUR 20,000 (money remittance only), EUR 50,000 (payment initiation only), EUR 125,000 (account, execution, issuing and acquiring services); no minimum for the restricted-activities licence
Law
Republic of Lithuania Law on Payments, art. 5; Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (PSD2), art. 7
Fees
State levy of EUR 898 (EUR 682 for the restricted-activities licence; EUR 693 for account information services only).
Passporting
Yes for the full licence under PSD2; no for the restricted-activities licence.
Key requirements
Restricted-activities licence: valid only in Lithuania and limited to the services in Law on Payments art. 5(1)-(5)
Separate licence for account information service providers
Fit and proper shareholders and managers
Safeguarding of client funds and AML/CTF controls
Operating plan showing the institution can provide services safely at authorisation
Crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorisation under MiCA
Minimum capitalUSD 56k
TimelineMiCA art. 63: completeness check within 25 working days, then decision within 40 working days of a complete application, with up to 20 working days of suspension for information requests
TimelineMiFID II art. 7(3): decision within 6 months of a complete application
AuthorityBank of Lithuania
IFD art. 9: EUR 75,000 (no client money, limited services), EUR 150,000 (other firms), EUR 750,000 (dealing on own account, underwriting or operating an MTF/OTF)
Law
Law on Markets in Financial Instruments of the Republic of Lithuania (transposing Directive 2014/65/EU); Directive (EU) 2019/2034 (IFD), art. 9
Passporting
Yes: EU/EEA passport under MiFID II arts. 34 and 35.
Key requirements
Programme of operations and organisational structure (MiFID II art. 7)
Fit and proper management body and qualifying shareholders
Prudential requirements under IFR/IFD
Membership of the investor compensation scheme where client assets are held
Lietuvos bankas (Bank of Lithuania) (LB) · websitebanks, E-money institutions, Payment service providers, Investment firms, Virtual asset service providers (VASPs)
European Central Bank (Single Supervisory Mechanism) (ECB) · websitebanks
MiCA transition: the Bank of Lithuania states that the national transitional period for virtual currency operators registered under the old AML regime (supervised by the Financial Crime Investigation Service, FNTT) ended on 31 December 2025; ESMA's list of grandfathering periods (May 2026 version) records 12 months for Lithuania. Since then only MiCA-authorised CASPs may serve clients. Specialised bank: introduced in 2017; the full list of permitted activities is in Law on Banks art. 4(5), which we could not open in an official English version, so the activity list is summarised from the Bank of Lithuania guide only. Investment firm fees and the Bank of Lithuania's state levy for CASP and brokerage firm applications were not verified (set by Government Resolution No 1458 of 15 December 2000). Online gambling: Lithuania licenses remote gambling through the Gaming Control Authority (Lošimų priežiūros tarnyba, lpt.lrv.lt) under the Law on Gaming, but its site blocked automated access and no official figures could be verified, so no gaming entry is included. Access note: lb.lt sits behind a bot challenge; the Bank of Lithuania pages cited were read from Internet Archive captures of the official URLs (banks page captured 23 May 2025, payment institutions 24 October 2025, EMI 9 July 2026, crypto pages 22 September 2026), so the bank state levy in particular should be rechecked on the live page.
General information
About Lithuania
Natural Earth boundaries. Map is indicative.
Status
Sovereign state
Capital
Vilnius
Area
65,300 km²
Official languages
Lithuanian
Time zone
UTC+02:00 (UTC+03:00 in summer)
Main exports
Refined petroleum
Furniture
Plastic products
Wheat
Cars
Fintech and transport services
Main export partners
Latvia
Poland
Germany
Netherlands
Russia
Sources for the country information(11)
Country information checked 9 October 2026. Licensing data updated 7 October 2026. Information only, not legal advice; requirements change. Regulatory notice.
