EU EMI Representative Office in Poland

We advised an EU electronic money institution in:

The permissible scope of activities of a representative office of a European Money Institution (EMI) in Poland.

Financial institutions regulated by EU law mostly use the so-called European passport, i.e. the ability to provide services in a country other than the home country on the basis of authorisation or registration in the home country, without the need to obtain parallel licences in the host EOG countries.

At the same time, local legislation in many EOG countries regulates the ability of foreign enterprises to conduct business in a given country through a representative office.

Although the activities of a representative office are usually limited by local legislation to advertising and promoting the enterprise, the representative office itself can have local infrastructure. Local presence significantly influences the trust of the local market in a financial services provider, giving it a competitive advantage over entities that provide services exclusively across borders.

Some EOG supervisory authorities appear to adopt a non-restrictive approach to interpreting the limitation of a representative office’s activities to advertising and promotion.

DLK’s advisory included:

The scope of the activities of the EU EMI representative office in Poland.

Equipping the office with personnel and organisational resources.

Performing activities towards current and future clients of the institution.