The Bank of Lithuania has revoked the electronic money institution license of Chinese-owned Paytend Europe following an inspection that found serious and systematic violations.
The central bank said Wednesday that the breaches were related to monitoring of business relationships and transactions, management of money laundering and terrorist financing risks, and deficiencies in the company’s internal control system.
“The institution failed to ensure effective control measures proportionate to the scale of its activities and the nature of its risks,” the Bank of Lithuania said in a statement.
As of Wednesday, Paytend Europe is no longer allowed to provide financial services and must inform clients within five business days about the procedures for settling accounts.
The central bank found that the company failed to notify the Financial Crime Investigation Service about suspicious transactions even when it had grounds to do so. It also determined that the institution provided incorrect information regarding business relationships with a high-risk client.
According to the Bank of Lithuania, the company lacked adequate tools to identify suspicious client activity, with shortcomings identified at all stages of the monitoring process.
“As a result, alerts about potentially suspicious activity were not always analysed in a timely and appropriate manner, and internal investigations were conducted formally or incompletely,” the central bank said.
The regulator also said the company failed to properly manage conflicts of interest, noting that “control functions were not adequately separated from business interests”.
In addition, the institution did not approve or submit its audited 2024 financial statements within the required deadlines.
Data from Lithuania’s state registry show that Paytend Europe’s sole shareholder is Chinese citizen Junqing Li. The company has operated in Lithuania since 2018.
According to its financial reports, Paytend Europe generated 6.4 million euros in revenue in 2024, up 52.4% from 4.2 million euros in 2023. Net profit reached 1.3 million euros, nearly double the 665,000 euros reported a year earlier.
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