Financial services

FinTech companies (financial insitutions), banks, electronic money institutions, payment service providers, insurance companies, investment managers and investment funds, forex dealers, securities brokers and other finance institutions in Europe are subjects to higher regulation and risk management requirements. Moreover, this sector is highly diversified and covers lots of instruments and services as well as various business models. Licensing of a finance institution in one of the member states within the European Union and European Economic Area opens up business opportunities to provide services in all other states, enjoy benefits of a Common Market of 500 million wealthy consumers and over 20 million businesses.

ECOVIS – THE MOST EXPERIENCED FINANCIAL SERVCES LICENSING ADVISOR

ECOVIS specializes in the licensing of finance institutions and Fintech’s providing financial services in Common European Financial Market. ECOVIS ProventusLaw currently is the most experienced financial institution licensing and compliance advisor.

Our experience in finance instutions licensing goes back to the incorporation of the first modern NSEL 30 Index fund in Lithuania 15 year ago. A few years later ECOVIS ProventusLaw assisted in licensing a specialised US securities investment fund – ZPR US Small Cap Value Fund for the US-based investment manager ZPR International.

We licensed the European branch of the California based e-payment company Alternative Payments in 2014, servicing over 100 000 websites around the world. Alternative Payments currently holds a Lithuanian license for their pan-European business. We serviced the global financial advisor deVere Group getting a license for their global activities, advised national post operator AB Lietuvos Paštas and the leading mobile telecommunications service provider UAB Omnitel getting their licenses. We mediated the Singapore-based Senjo Group global holding company in 2017, who specialize in payment services and financial technology, with the acquisition of Finolita Unio, which has a payment institution license. Recently, ECOVIS ProventusLaw acquired an electronic money institution licence for Singapore-based Instarem, which operates in more than 50 countries. Currently we service clients from continental Europe, the UK and USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel, UAE and Singapore. We do not differentiate between experienced international finance institution providing services around the globe and Fintech start-up making their first steps into the European financial market. We welcome everybody and we are ready to assist.

ECOVIS professionals advise governmental working groups improving the regulatory environment for finance institutions in Lithuania and focusing it for pan-European needs. ECOVIS ProventusLaw has established the FINTECH HUB LT association together with 6 Fintech enterprises licensed in Lithuania.

The experience of ECOVIS ProventusLaw on issues of finance law and licensing of financial services was also emphasised by the international legal directory “Legal 500”, which noted that ECOVIS ProventusLaw has a very high competence in the banking sector.

The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms IFLR1000 awarded Attorney at Law Inga Karulaitytė in the 2019 IFLR1000 law firm rankings as a Highly Regarded Lawyer in Banking. Received awards from international legal directory is the recognition of ECOVIS ProventusLaw FinTech team exceptional knowledge and expertise in banking, financial services as well as finance institution licensing. Such recognition can be achieved only after precise and independent due diligence carried out by legal directory, long years of successful legal practice and positive client feedback.

THE RANGE OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY US IN THIS SECTOR INCLUDES:

• representation in obtaining required licences
• advising on sector regulatory and risk management issues
• representation in relations with market surveillance authorities
• advising on issues of electronic payments and e-money, foreign remittances and foreign currency exchange transactions
• assistance in the development of financial products and services
• advising on money laundering issues
• loans and debt restructuring, insolvency
• incorporation of companies
• representation in transactions
• advising on IT and data protection issues
• representation in disputes
• advising on tax issues
• advising on labour law issues

These issues are addressed by our lawyers working in the fields of Financial Services, Licensing and Regulatory, Telecommunications, IT and Data Protection, Tax, Dispute Resolution, Company Law and Labour Law.

Our clients also entrust the team of ECOVIS ProventusLaw with complex legal issues covering several jurisdictions and when addressing those issues we rely, if required, on the expertise of the team of ECOVIS experts working in over 60 countries worldwide.

Local knowledge in the home country and international expertise of the international network of ECOVIS professionals ensure fast and efficient services for the client. This makes ECOVIS different from other service providers.

LIST OF LICENSED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS:

• Payment Institution;
• Electronic Money Institution;
• Specialised Bank/Bank;
• Securities Broker (MIFID license);
• Investment Management Company and Investment Fund;
• Crowdfunding;
• Peer to Peer Lending Platform;
• Consumer Credit Provider;
• Insurance Company;
• Licensing Solutions for Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and ICO.

Information on finance institution licensing in Russian / Лицензирование финансовых учреждений в общем европейском рынке

Information on finance institution licensing in Chinese