Lithuania’s central bank, the Bank of Lithuania (LB), has imposed a €98,000 fine on connectpay, a financial institution serving online businesses, for deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls. The penalty, resulting from a targeted LB review, reflects a broader trend of increased regulatory oversight within the fintech sector-particularly concerning firms facilitating online commerce. ConnectPay proactively disclosed the issues and has cooperated with regulators to remediate them,submitting an independent audit confirming full implementation of a corrective action plan. The administrative agreement signals the LB’s commitment to enforcing compliance with financial crime prevention standards in the Baltic region.
Lithuania’s central bank has levied a €98,000 fine against ConnectPay, a licensed financial institution providing intermediary banking services to online businesses, following a targeted review of its compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations.
The Bank of Lithuania (LB) identified shortcomings in ConnectPay’s internal procedures related to enhanced customer due diligence and the monitoring of business relationships and transactions. The findings stem from a planned inspection conducted by the central bank.
ConnectPay proactively approached the LB to discuss a potential administrative agreement, and the company acknowledged the violations, stating it has since taken steps to rectify them and submitting an independent audit report as evidence. The central bank subsequently agreed to the settlement.
“We take the identified observations as an opportunity to improve and emphasize that they have no impact on the security of our clients’ funds or the provision of services,” ConnectPay stated in a released comment. The company’s services are particularly relevant to the growing sector of internet-based commerce.
According to the company, the audit process involved continuous dialogue with the regulator, and a full implementation of an improvement plan has been completed, addressing all identified issues. “Throughout the entire audit process, there was constant dialogue with the regulator – according to an assessment by independent auditors, we have fully implemented the action plan for improvement and resolved all the observations identified during the audit,” the company noted.
ConnectPay is a financial institution regulated by the LB, offering intermediary banking services for online businesses. The administrative agreement with the central bank underscores the increasing scrutiny of fintech companies and their adherence to financial crime prevention standards.
