LHV Group decided to establish a bank in the UK to separate its business activities in Estonia and the UK. Now, LHV operates in the UK through LHV Bank’s UK branch. Separating the business activities will allow better compliance with regulatory and supervisory requirements. A clear separation between the two businesses will enable LHV UK to highlight the financial results and the value proposition of the new bank for investors.

LHV Bank’s UK Branch has 200 financial intermediary customers, that in turn service over 10 million end-customers worldwide. Amongst others, the customers include Wise, Monese, Coinbase, Trustly, Paysafe, Airwallex, TransferGo, Blockchain, and Currencycloud.

For financial intermediaries, LHV offers settlement services such as accounts, payments, card acquiring, FX, and other similar services. As a direct member of both instant EUR and GBP payment settlement systems, LHV offers customers real-time payments in both major currencies in EU. The services are offered to the clients through an API LHV Connect.

The banking application of LHV UK is subject to regulatory approval by the Prudential Regulatory Authority and Financial Conduct Authority. The application takes up to six months if it is complete but could take up to 12 months if it is not complete. After obtaining the banking licence, LHV plans to transfer its business from the LHV Bank UK branch to LHV UK Limited.