Decision of the Administrative Court regarding the fine imposed on Šiaulių Bankas

Šiaulių Bankas AB, company code 112025254, domicile address: Tilžes str. 149, Šiauliai, Lithuania.

On 12 January 2021, the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court issued a decision in an administrative case in which the complaint of Šiaulių bankas AB regarding the legality of the decision of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania imposing sanctions on Šiaulių bankas (a fine of EUR 880 thousand) was examined. The Resolution of the Bank of Lithuania was adopted after the 2019 scheduled inspection for the identified violations and shortcomings in the implementation of the requirements for the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing.

The court by its judgment dismissed Šiaulių bankas’ complaint as unfounded and left the existing decision of the Bank of Lithuania unchanged.

Šiaulių Bankas eliminated most of the violations and shortcomings identified by the Bank of Lithuania before considering the results of the inspection at the Board of the Bank of Lithuania. Šiaulių Bankas has not identified any cases that Šiaulių Bankas would be used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes due to the violations and deficiencies identified in the inspection report. The Bank of Lithuania also did not state in the resolution that Šiaulių Bankas and / or other persons would have benefited or caused damage to third parties due to the violations.

Šiaulių bankas is currently evaluating the decision made by the court and will decide on its appeal within the time limits established by law (30 calendar days). It needs to be emphasized that the fine imposed by the Bank of Lithuania will not adversely affect the sustainable business continuity of the Bank. The fine imposed was accounted in the Bank’s financial results of year 2019.

Additional information shall be provided by

Communication specialist

Monika Rožytė, ,