Russian
English
Banking license in Latvia
All Latvian economic entities are financially managed by the Finance and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) on the basis of the law on credit organizations, as well as acts on the issue of licenses for credit organizations and credit unions.
This authority issues permits for banking, investment, payment, brokerage, and other activities in the economic segment.
Creating a bank in Latvia will be faster and easier than in other EU jurisdictions but it will still be an EU-level banking license that can be used to provide services in other EU countries. However, the final decision to issue a banking permit to a credit institution is made by the European Central Bank.
The application processing period is 3 months. This period may be extended up to 12 months to eliminate all shortcomings by the applicant.
Requirement:
The permit is issued exclusively to Latvian legal entities, which indicates the need to open an LLC or SIA in the country. Office establishment takes up to 5 business days, provided that there are no obstacles in the collection and execution of documents.
The minimum authorized capital should be 5,000,000 euros.
Disclosure of the origin of funds of company executives is a prerequisite.
All decision-makers should have an impeccable reputation, proper education, and work experience
The presence of a business plan and a full package of necessary documents are also required for applying.
The total amount for a complex of services consists of:
- Creating a corporation and opening a bank account.
- State fees when collecting a package of documents for extracts (if it is provided for by the jurisdiction of your country).
- Law&Trust service fee. The price is posted on the website, the final estimate of the scope of work and fees will be calculated by a specialist after the initial consultation.
- Additionally, there may be expenses for recruiting and adapting the office to the Latvian regulations.
What happens after you have obtained a license?
For successful operation, a bank that has just received a license will need to establish correspondent relations with other payment and credit institutions, obtain SEPA membership and connect to SWIFT, as well as to Visa and MasterCard.
The specialists of Law and Trust will not only accompany you in obtaining a license but also help establish business processes for the successful launch of the bank’s real work.
For more information, contact our managers.
