A new foreign bank is set to enter Lithuania soon, the country’s central bank has said.
“This year alone, we have had individual meetings with 21 unique banks from Europe and beyond. With some of those banks, as mentioned, the talks are already advanced and we hope for good news soon,” Lukas Jakubonis, head of the Bank of Lithuania’s Centre for Financial Market Development, told reporters on Friday.
“A new bank will come, the only question is when,” he added.
Jakubonis did not disclose the name of the bank but said that Lithuania is attracting interest from important and well-known European market players, especially from Germany and Poland.
“I would not like to disclose specific countries. They have not yet made the commitment to come, but we do have a lot of hope regarding countries like Germany and Poland,” Jakubonis said.
According to the Bank of Lithuania, 13 banks currently hold banking or specialised bank licenses in Lithuania, and there are also six branches of foreign banks. The three banks with the largest market shares – SEB, Swedbank and Šiaulių Bankas – are supervised by the European Central Bank in cooperation with experts from the Bank of Lithuania.
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