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In this article we’ll provide information about VASP legislation amendment in Lithuania. On 25.03.2022 was introduced project for amendment of Lithuanian AML framework regarding virtual assets service providers (VASP). After discussion with Lithuanian authorities (Bank of Lithuania, Ministries, the State Enterprise Centre of Registers, etc.) amendments to Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Law No. VIII-275 were accepted by Lithuanian Parliament. Further, the President of the Republic shall either sign and officially promulgate the amendments to the law, or shall refer them back to the Parliament together with relevant reasons for reconsideration. The latter case usually does not happen so often, therefore it is likely that the amendments will be signed by the President soon. It should be noted that said amendments will come into force from November 1, 2022, however, some changes will be applicable later.
Changes in customers due diligence measures application
Within the new amendment, VASPs are obligated to apply customer due diligence measures (primarily identification of the customers and their beneficial owners) each time, when transaction(s) equal to or exceeding 700€ per 24h are performed. Current regulation sets a threshold of at least 1,000€ for the identification of the customer and the beneficiary. Also, it’s prohibited to open anonymous account(s) for customers and there’s specific requirements for customer’s identification. The requirement related to identification will come into force on January 1, 2023 and the prohibition on anonymous account(s) will come into force on November 1, 2022.
Changes in customers due diligence measures application
In June 2019 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has made recommendation to extended the “travel rule” requirement to VASPs. It obliges VASPs to collect and retain the details of the transaction’s originator (incl. originator’s personal data). This data shall be sent promptly and securely to the recipient’s VASP. However, VASP provider is not able to receive or process the data, the aforementioned obligation would be deemed to be fulfilled if:
- the VASP of the originator of the transaction ensures real-time monitoring of the transactions and a risk analysis of each transaction, using a dedicated technological solution;
- and where the necessary data is stored by the VASP of the originator of the transaction in a way that allows them to make the data available without delay upon the request of a supervisory or investigative authority.
The VASP of the originator of the transaction will be obliged to collect at least the following information on the originator of the transaction:
Restriction for temporary renouncement of the license
It’s restricted to temporary renounce activities for a VASP. Thus, VASP shall be in compliance with the license requirements.
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