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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 11:39

Chinese bank may enter Lithuanian market this year

BC, Vilnius, 14.03.2017.Print version
The Lithuanian central bank governor said on Tuesday that a new bank might enter the market this year, but he gave no further details. According to information available to LETA/BNS, it could be a Chinese bank or financial institution.

"When you meet with those interested in entering the market in the future, you see the seriousness of their intentions. As I've said, we believe that one (company) is rather seriously interested. We expect that this could happen this year, but I don't want to make any promises," Vitas Vasiliauskas said at a news conference.


The chairman of the Bank of Lithuania's board said that the potential new market player was a foreign-owned company, but he did not provide any details.


According to information that has not been officially confirmed, a Chinese bank is considering setting up its branch in Lithuania to provide services to Chinese companies planning to invest in the country.


Vasiliauskas sees Lithuania's membership of the eurozone as a key factor attracting that potential new bank to the country.


"We don't yet have a full picture as to the possible reasons for that candidate's arrival in Lithuania, bur foreign banks normally follow their corporate customers," he said.


When asked if that meant that the expected new bank was not from an EU country, the central bank governor said, "You guessed right".


Luo Feng, CEO of the Hong Kong-based financial technology company International Business Settlement (IBS), told the Verslo Zinios business paper last October that there were plans to establish in Lithuania a center for payments between the EU and China.


IBS provides international transfer and banking services to Chinese companies. Its shareholders include the transport, logistic, property and finance corporation China Merchants Group (CMG), which has already announced that it has interests in the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda and is investing around 300 mln in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.


The state-owned CMG also owns China Merchants Bank. It was reported last year that CMG was planning to establish two representative offices in Lithuania -- one in the capital of Vilnius and other Klaipeda. The latter will be set up by China Merchants Holdings, a port operator controlled by CMG.


The following eight banks currently operate in Lithuania: SEB, Swedbank, DNB, Nordea, Danske, Citadele, Siauliu Bankas and Medicinos Bankas. Nordea and DNB are likely to merge their Baltic operations into a single bank named Luminor in the second quarter of this year. The combined bank will become the second-largest player in the Baltic banking marker.






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