Decision of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania regarding a fine imposed on Šiaulių bankas

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

At the beginning of the year, Šiaulių bankas decided to appeal the decision of the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court, which rejected the appeal of Šiaulių bankas against the legitimacy of the decision of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania of 20 December 2019 and the imposition of a sanction (a fine of EUR 880 thousand).

Today, the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania issued a decision partially upholding the appeal of Šiaulių Bankas - annulling the decision of the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court of 12 January 2021 and transferring the case to the court of first instance for re-investigation.

Please be reminded that the resolution of the Bank of Lithuania was adopted after the scheduled inspection of Šiaulių Bankas in 2019 for the identified violations and deficiencies in the implementation of the requirements for the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing. Šiaulių Bankas eliminated most of the violations and deficiencies identified by the Bank of Lithuania before the results of the inspection were considered by the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, and the remaining deficiencies were eliminated according to the plan agreed with the Bank of Lithuania. Šiaulių Bankas has not identified any cases where the violations and deficiencies specified in the inspection report would have been used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. The Bank of Lithuania also had not stated in the resolution that Šiaulių Bankas and /or other persons would have benefited or caused damage to third parties due to the violations.

We remind you that the fine imposed by the Bank of Lithuania was accounted for in the performance of Šiaulių Bankas in 2019, therefore, regardless of the outcome of the legal proceedings, the fine will not have a negative impact on the sustainable continuity of the Bank's operations.

Additional information shall be provided by
Communication specialist
Monika Rožytė, +370 686 79234
monika.rozyte@sb.lt