Financial Institution License

License allows to provide the following services

  • Contact point designated by an EMI or a PSP
  • Fund manager
  • Savings and loan association
  • Provision of advice to clients
  • Borrowing and lending operations
  • Leasing transactions
  • Money brokerage
  • Guarantees and commitments
  • Currency exchange

Process of obtaining the Estonian financial institution license

1

Recruiting the necessary personnel and establishing the company with local substance (Estonian local managers, AML officer, office etc.).

2

Opening the bank account in EEU and depositing the required share capital amount. The share capital must be a minimum of 2 500€.

3

Providing the passport copies and non-criminal records from all countries of citizenship

4

Submitting the CV-s (resumes) and education info for all participants in the company.

5

Providing the description of services and company website address.

6

Drafting the AML internal procedures that are compliant with the Estonian AML regulations.

Legal bases

Financial Institution license is issued by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The activity of financial service providers is regulated by the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act.
Before starting a commercial activity, it is necessary to make sure that the company’s activities do not fall under the control of the Financial Supervision Authority (FSA), and there is no need to obtain a license or permit for activities, issued by the above-mentioned authority in the context of the law on credit institutions, the law on securities market and other legislation of Estonia, directly related to finance and investments.
In order to make sure that your company’s business model complies with the license of a financial service provider, feel free to contact us for drafting up a legal opinion for your project.

Bank account

The applicant needs to provide the information about company bank account including bank name and IBAN code in the European Economic Area (EEA). The account needs to be opened at a traditional bank or e-money institution or payment service provider operating officially in the EEA and approved by the FSA.

State fee

To submit an application for a license, a state fee must be paid: 3,300 EUR — in order to implement the activities of savings and loan association, fund management company, and e-money institution. 345 EUR — in order to provide broking, leasing, borrowing, and lending services.

Submission

The application can be submitted through Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority webpage (authentication is needed) or by using a notary.

Timeframe

The submitted application will be processed within 60 days from the date of providing all the necessary information. The application may be extended up to 120 days at the Applicant’s request. The activity licence will be issued electronically and is valid for an unlimited period (unless the activity licence is applied for a specific term).

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