Electronic Money Institution Contis has been fined €840,000 by the Bank of Lithuania due to multiple anti-money laundering (AML) violations.
In its enforcement of the penalty, the Lithuanian central bank alleges that Contis did not establish sufficient AML provisions for electronic money distributors. The institution delegated responsibilities for sanctions screening to partner organizations but failed to ensure those duties were effectively performed.
Furthermore, the Bank highlighted significant gaps in Contis’ procedures for identifying risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing. According to the central bank, the scenarios implemented were inadequate for promptly detecting unusual client activities, and insufficient human resources were allocated for monitoring.
The firm also faced criticism for inadequate business continuity preparations. Contis has been instructed to rectify its systems by April of the following year and is currently prohibited from establishing new business relationships with distributors and intermediaries.
UK-based Contis was acquired by the German Banking-as-a-Service platform Solaris in January 2022.