From 10 November 2021, European Parliament and Council regulations on crowdfunding service providers came into effect. Companies holding a crowdfunding licence in any EU member state can now offer services across the entire EU market. For Lithuanian-based providers, that means access to the full EU without additional national authorisations.
In response to the new regime, Creditonline and the attorney office EXE.legal established a partnership to provide integrated legal and technology services to crowdfunding providers as a combined offering.
Lithuania’s position in the crowdfunding landscape
Dr Paulius Astromskis, head of EXE.legal, cited Lithuania’s standing in the World Bank Doing Business ranking: “Lithuania holds 11th place of 190 countries in the global Doing Business ranking.” He pointed to the country’s regulatory environment and its growing reputation as a fintech centre as reasons crowdfunding companies are looking at Lithuania as a base for EU-wide operations.
Juozas Rupšys, founder of Creditonline, noted that “platforms created in our country have been touted as some of the best in the world,” referencing the platform’s placement among GoodFirms’ top 10 platforms and Digital.com’s Top 20 global loan servicing software creators.
Market context
Lithuanian crowdfunding platform operators created a third more contracts in the first half of 2021 than across the entirety of 2020, with the value of financed projects increasing proportionally. Over the same period, Lithuanian citizens’ banking deposits rose by around 4 billion euros since the start of the pandemic, reaching 19.4 billion euros - a pool of capital that crowdfunding platforms are positioned to intermediate.
The combination of EU passporting rights, a favourable regulatory environment, and an established technology sector gives Lithuanian-licensed providers a practical route to serving the broader European market from a single jurisdiction.