Legal assistance is an integral part of any business at all stages of its lifecycle. The assistance of an experienced lawyer is invaluable, for instance, when establishing a company in Lithuania, conducting business, entering into contracts, expanding business and also during the sale or liquidation of the company.
LawCenter.lt provides professional legal services to small and medium-sized businesses, regardless of their form of ownership, at all stages of its activities. We provide legal assistance in the establishment of private limited liability companies, registration of transactions for the acquisition and sale of companies, obtaining licenses and permits, opening accounts with banks, obtaining VAT numbers, taxation, liquidation of enterprises.
LawCenter.lt have in our team practicing lawyers who are experienced in various areas of business, understand the nuances and know the latest changes in the legislation of Lithuania and the EU, and we thoroughly analyze various legislative and regulatory changes to help our clients to optimize taxation and reduce possible risks and costs associated with these changes.
If your company needs legal support, then LawCenter.lt is your reliable legal partner, and will provide legal assistance for the activities of your company in Lithuania in the following areas:
- Establishment of a company in Lithuania.
- Purchase and sale of companies.
- Accounting services.
- Consultation and resolution of taxation issues.
- Preparation of documentation requested by government agencies for obtaining certificates, licenses and other permits.
- Preparation of the company’s internal documentation, e.g.: decrees, employment documents, minutes of shareholders’ meetings, etc.
- Drawing up financing, purchase/sale, rent, representation, copyright contracts, etc.
- Full legal support for business activities, including assistance in business relocation.
In order to maintain records and obtain an overview of a company’s economic results and financial position, accounting is an essential element of the conduct of business. Lithuanian accounting laws apply to all foreign-owned companies and their subsidiaries operating there. In order to ensure the better results, there must be government-established accounting standards.
LawCenter.lt advantages:
- Possibility of adding a remote accountant.
- No need for Lithuanian employee, physical office and auditing.
- Possibility to restore the accounting of the whole period.
The following legal acts regulate accounting in Lithuania:
- Republic of Lithuania Accounting Law. In Lithuania, the law regulates how to organize an accounting system, how to write documents, how to store and how to correct them.
- International accounting standards or business accounting standards are both generally accepted accounting standards. According to what the activity entails, either Business Accounting Standards (BAS) or International Accounting Standards (IAS) will be applied.
- In Lithuania, a law governs the preparation of company financial statements. Audits, reports on government payments, and consolidated annual reports are regulated by law.
- Accounting policies should be approved by the head of the company. This is done keeping in mind the specific type of activity, the business environment, and the application of Accounting Standards in mind. Several accounting policies should be included in the accountant’s policies, including the organization’s accounting policies as well as financial statement preparation and presentation.
- It is required that all accounting records be backed up by supporting documentation (invoices, checks, accounting records, expenditure reports, etc.).
- There is a 10-year retention period for accounting records. A financial statement can only be prepared properly if both assets and liabilities have been inventoried at least once a year. This is most likely by the end of the financial year.
Basic requirements for the organization of accounting:
- The Lithuanian Register requires every company to prepare and submit its annual report within 5 months of its financial year.
- There is no set month for the start of a financial year
- It is not possible for the company’s head to handle accounting.
- Accounting programs must be used to record all business transactions.
- It is essential to document every business transaction.
- A company’s financial situation, performance, and cash flows should be presented in a reliable, objective, and comparable manner.
- Documents related to accounting must be archived for a minimum of ten years.
Annual financial report:
- Even companies without any activities during the financial year are required to file annual reports in Lithuania.
- The annual report must be approved at the Annual General Meeting after the end of the financial year.
- The annual report must be prepared after all accounting has been completed.
- There must be 12 consecutive months in the financial year, usually starting on the first of January. However, it can start at any time during the calendar year.
- An annual report must be submitted by each Lithuanian company within six months after the end of its financial year to the Lithuanian Business Register. Unless otherwise specified, the annual report must be prepared in Lithuanian and in the official currency of Lithuania (Euro).
- Every company registered in Lithuania is required to file an annual report, even if it didn’t conduct any business during the year. If your company’s financial year ends on 31 December, the deadline for the annual report is 30 June of the following year. This means that if the financial year ends on 31 December, the deadline is 30 June.
The annual report should include the following:
- Management Report
- Balance
- Income statement
- Cash flow report
- Report on changes in capital
- Notes to annual accounts
Life today would be unthinkable without labor law. Knowledge of national law proves to be insufficient. We can offer a high level of expertise in the field. We believe that the successful results and individually tailored solutions prove to be a reflection of the qualifications and experience of our lawyers. If you share our beliefs and vision, our highly skilled professionals are at your service.
We possess extensive experience in a wide range of matters relating to the conclusion, enforcement and termination of employment contracts. Our law firm represents companies and helps them to draft and negotiate employment contracts so that, on the one hand, employment contracts correspond to the reasonable expectations and commercial arrangements of the parties, and, on the other hand, the employment contract complies with overriding requirements of the Lithuanian laws.
We ensure that the auxiliary corporate documents, for example, internal regulations of a company, internal rules of different departments of companies, duties of employees, are properly drafted and employer’s interests are properly protected. In fact, many companies encounter such situations when they need to dismiss incompetent or non-performing employees. For this reason, proper and inexpensive termination of employment contracts is one of the key concerns for employers.
LawCenter.lt advise companies on the following matters:
- Mandatory requirements of the Lithuanian laws that are applicable for employment contracts.
- Conceiving and developing corporate organizational structures.
- Advising on development and implementation of various corporate policies.
- Advising on employee privacy, personal data protection, non-discrimination, reconciliation of work and family life, etc.
- Advising on the employment and labor law issues in M&A.
- Advising on drafting, amendment and termination of employment contracts.
- Advising on drafting, performance and expiry of contracts with CEOs.
- Advising on employee incentives, compensation and tax-related matters.
- Advising on all aspects of drafting and performance of confidentiality and non-competition agreements.
- Advising on all aspects of employee posting and employment through temporary employment agencies.
- Advising on work safety issues.
- Advising on all aspects of employment and obtaining residency and work permits in Lithuania for citizens from the EU and third countries.
- Conducting legal due diligence and drafting various documents, such as rules of procedure, instructions and other local regulations, individual agreements, collective agreements, etc.
Ensuring that fintech companies and other financial institutions comply with all legal requirements during the licensing process and subsequent operations is critical. Lithuanian legislation enables entrepreneurs from all over the world to offer various financial and investment services to their clients on the basis of licences issued by the Bank of Lithuania.
LawCenter.lt Legal assistance:
- Entities wishing to provide financial services in Lithuania must first obtain an activity license from the Bank of Lithuania. We are familiar with the licensing process and advise payment and electronic-money institutions, crowdfunding platform operators, and other financial institutions seeking licenses to operate. We help our clients register on the lists of consumer credit providers and their intermediaries that are maintained by the Bank of Lithuania.
- We help clients that are licensed to provide financial services in Lithuania expand their operations internationally and conduct all processes necessary to commence operations in other EU Member States.
- In some cases we can help clients make slight adjustments to their business models, thus putting them outside the scope of financial services regulation. We provide practical advice to clients developing service-delivery processes.
- The activities of the financial sector are regulated by the Republic of Lithuania, as well as the EU. Knowing all the relevant acts and keeping track of all relevant changes is a major challenge; and one that requires significant resources and time. We help our clients understand the constantly changing legal regime and assist in the implementation of changes as they become necessary, as well as providing advice on compliance issues.
- The prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing is a critical part of financial-institution activities. How to comply with sanctions and other restrictive measures, and how to properly perform know-your-client procedures – we answer these and other questions from a practical perspective.
- Supervisory authorities regularly conduct both routine and unplanned inspections of financial institutions, which can sometimes result in extremely painful sanctions both to reputation and finances. We help clients answer the questions asked during these inspections, forming their official position, as well as working efficiently to correct any defects identified during inspections.
LawCenter.lt proposes the following solutions:
- Meetings and consultations with potential financial market participants.
- Available information on possibilities of licensing financial services in Lithuania.
- Request meetings, e-mail consultations on the launch of new FinTech products.
- Verifying the compliance of the draft with legislative and licensing requirements.
LawCenter.lt can assist in obtaining the following financial licences:
- Cryptocurrency Licence in Lithuania.
- Investment Fund License in Lithuania.
- Forex Licence in Lithuania.
- Payment Institution License (PSP) in Lithuania.
- EMI License in Lithuania.
- Operate as a Financial Institution License in Lithuania.
- Crowdfunding License in Lithuania.
- Gambling Licence in Lithuania.
- Bank Licence in Lithuania.
Enforced recovery of debts is carried out on the basis of enforcement documents issued by a court or other authorities. In accordance with the procedures established by law, enforcement documents are implemented throughout the territory of the Republic of Lithuania.
LawCenter.lt a variety of enforcement measures are using when applying enforced debt recovery:
- Recovery from the debtor’s funds and property or property rights.
- Recovery from the debtor’s assets and sums of money held by other persons.
- Recovery from the debtor’s salary, pension, stipend (scholarship) or other income.
- Other enforcement measures.
LawCenter.lt property debt recovery:
The service of realisation of mortgaged movable property is provided in cases when the mortgaged movable property is arrested and transferred to the creditor according to a hypothec ruling. After taking over the pledged movable property, the creditor may apply to the bailiff with a request to realise this property by auction. All procedures related to the organisation of the auction and the handling of documents are performed by the bailiff.
The service of administration (custody) of the debtor’s property is provided in cases when the debtor’s property is present, but there is no possibility to realise it due to certain circumstances. In this case, the bailiff applies to the court to specifically request the administration of the debtor’s property and the distribution of the income received by the debtor. When administering property, bailiffs perform all actions necessary to preserve the property, or to ensure its use for its intended purpose.
LawCenter.lt implementation of property obligations (pre-trial debt recovery):
Pre-trial recovery of debts is carried out when the debt has not been awarded by a court decision. In providing this service, the bailiff acts as an intermediary in order for the debtor to fulfil their pecuniary obligations in good faith, or to satisfy the creditor’s pecuniary claim in other lawful ways.
Mediation in the performance of pecuniary obligations includes such areas as control of financial settlements, debt administration and pre-trial debt recovery. In providing this service, special attention is paid to the customers of our clients, in order to avoid conflict situations and to help to preserve the client’s desired customers. This service can be applied for in all cases where there are documents confirming the debt. These can be contracts, invoices, loan notes and other documents proving the existence of the obligation. Summarising the experience of us, and other bailiffs, in the field of pre-trial recovery (collection) of debts (mediation in the performance of pecuniary obligations) and in order to achieve faster and more efficient debt repayment We provide the service of mediation in the performance of property obligations.
In our inter-connected world, and especially within the European Union, national borders are increasingly no longer a barrier for businesses that wish to conduct international trade and cross-border commercial activities, but can still prove to be a major obstacle that impedes the free movement of people who may have a whole host of reasons for wanting to live and work abroad or overseas.
LawCenter.lt can help private individuals wishing to move from one state to another with a range of specialised legal services to make emigration and immigration easier, including:
- Assistance in applying for and obtaining various types of visas.
- Advice about securing permits for temporary, long-term and permanent stays in an EU member state’s territory, including: registration certificates, community family-member card, permanent residence certificates for community citizens and/or family members.
- Appealing against visa denials in court.
- Disputing refusals to grant temporary or permanent rights to remain in an EU member state’s territory.
- Assistance obtaining refugee status and the right of asylum, including ordinary and subsidiary procedures.
- Advice on the free movement of workers within the EU, such as renewal and modifications of work permits.
- Assistance with family reunification, including authorisations for temporary residence due to exceptional circomstances.
- Procedure for obtaining another nationality, as a result of residency and other alternative routes or options.
- Recognition and accreditation for foreign university degrees, diplomas and studies.