Our representative office in Vilnius is ready to go!

Benjamin, you were intensively involved in the preparation for the opening of our new representative office in Lithuania. Why do we open a site in the Baltic States?
The bank continually adapts its network of representative offices to the needs of our corporate clients. The Baltic is one of the fastest growing regions within the EU, and Germany plays a key role in this regard – both as the main trading partner and as a leading investor in the region.

In recent years, Lithuania has become a particularly attractive location for international companies. There are many reasons for this: Political stability, a clear European orientation, membership in the EU and NATO, a high level of digital innovation and a strong base of qualified professionals. Economic-friendly administration, special economic zones and a stable regulatory environment also contribute to this. In addition, important infrastructure projects such as the connection to the European rail network or investments in renewable energies strengthen the positive business climate in the region.

Our new location in Vilnius is not only focused on Lithuania. It will become our hub for all Baltic countries, including Estonia and Latvia. Our aim is to promote economic relations between Germany and the Baltic States with our representative office.

A representative office does not offer operational banking services such as deposits and loans. What services will the Bank offer to its corporate clients in Vilnius?
Our representative offices maintain close contacts with local business representatives, authorities, central banks and political decision-makers as well as international chambers of commerce and associations. The team in Lithuania will act as our interface to the region, as in all representative offices. Being plugged into the local environment allows us to offer further to support our international clients and is a unique selling point for the Bank.

In addition, we will focus on the maintenance and expansion of our correspondent banking network. This is important and will allow us to optimally accompany payment transactions and foreign exchange transactions as well as trade processing and financing in and from the region. Commerzbank has been active in the Baltic States for more than 20 years and has recently intensified its cooperation with local banks.

We’re also developing our cooperation with the public sector in the region as there is a growing need for infrastructure financing which we can help to support.

Can you tell us about the processes for opening a representative office?
Yes, clearly there are strictly defined processes that we must adhere to, although no opening is the same each time. Processes include coordination rounds with specialist departments, working with external law firms to review local legal requirements, preparing and obtaining committee resolutions, and ultimately obtaining local oversight consent. This is time-consuming, but necessary.

Within our Institutional Clients & Transaction Banking Sales segment, ICTBS, we have a department which has responsibility for the management of our representative offices. With their help, we were able to master all the relevant tasks professionally and smoothly.

What has fortunately accelerated the opening in Lithuania has been that we are a bank authorised in the EU and do not need the approval of the local supervisory authority to set up a representative office.

After preparing for one-year, we are all looking forward to the start of our new representative office in Lithuania.