Guarantee and surety business in Estonia: the financial institution activity licence

A company whose main business in Estonia is issuing guarantees and sureties to third parties is a "financial institution" under the Credit Institutions Act and needs an activity licence from the Financial Intelligence Unit before it starts. This page explains what the licence covers, where it ends, what the application contains and the state fee.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

The Credit Institutions Act (krediidiasutuste seadus, KAS) lists among financial services "guarantee and surety transactions and other transactions that create binding obligations for a person in the future"¹. These are services provided to third parties in the course of business¹.

A financial institution is a company that is not a credit institution but whose main and permanent activity is, among other things, one or more of the transactions listed in KAS § 6 (1) 2–12 — which includes guarantee and surety transactions².

Whether a specific product is a guarantee transaction or insurance is specified for the client's case.

What is not covered:

• Taking deposits or other repayable funds from the public. Only credit institutions have that right³, and they need a licence from the Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon)⁴.
• Guarantee insurance. Under the Insurance Activities Act (kindlustustegevuse seadus, KindlTS), taking over insurance risks under an insurance contract is insurance activity⁵; "guarantee insurance" (garantiikindlustus) is a class of non-life insurance⁶, and insurance activity needs a Finantsinspektsioon licence⁷.

The legal act and the authority

• Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (rahapesu ja terrorismi rahastamise tõkestamise seadus, RahaPTS). It applies to financial institutions⁸, and it counts as a financial institution any "other financial institution within the meaning of the Credit Institutions Act"⁹. It requires an activity licence for operating as a financial institution¹⁰.
• Credit Institutions Act (KAS) — the definitions¹²; General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus, MSÜS) — the general licensing procedure¹¹; State Fees Act (riigilõivuseadus, RLS) — the fee¹².

The competent authority is the Financial Intelligence Unit (Rahapesu Andmebüroo, FIU), a government agency under the Ministry of Finance¹³. It decides on the licence¹⁴ and supervises compliance with RahaPTS¹⁵.

The licence is entered in the Register of Economic Activities (majandustegevuse register, MTR), whose controller is the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA)¹⁶. The FIU refers to the same register for checking valid authorisations¹⁷.

Who must apply

Every undertaking operating as a financial institution needs the licence¹⁰, except a person who¹⁸:

• holds a Finantsinspektsioon licence;
• is obliged by another act to apply for a Finantsinspektsioon licence;
• holds a licence from a financial supervisor of another European Economic Area (EEA) state that allows it to operate in Estonia through a branch or cross-border, and this has been notified to Finantsinspektsioon; or
• provides the services only within its group.

A licence that has been granted is revoked, among other grounds, if the undertaking has not started the licensed activity within six months of the licence being issued¹⁹.

Requirements for the applicant

Capital and own funds. Whether a share capital or own-funds requirement applies is specified for the client's case. The capital and collateral that a guarantee business needs to meet its own obligations are a business matter, specified for the client's case.

Management, owners and beneficial owners. The undertaking, its management board members, procurators, beneficial owners and owners must have no valid conviction for an offence against the state, a money laundering offence or another intentional crime, and they must have a proper business reputation²⁰. Reputation is not proper, for example, if the person's conduct led to the bankruptcy or licence revocation of a supervised entity, or if the person gave the FIU false information or withheld material information²¹.

Responsible board member and contact person. If the management board has more than one member, one of them is appointed as responsible for applying RahaPTS²². The management board of a financial institution appoints a contact person of the FIU, who reports directly to the board²³. Only a person who works permanently in Estonia and has the necessary education, professional suitability, abilities, personal qualities, experience and impeccable reputation may be appointed, and the appointment is coordinated with the FIU²⁴. The contact person must meet the act's requirements for the licence to be granted²⁰.

Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT). The company prepares a documented risk assessment covering at least client, geographic, product and delivery-channel risks²⁵. It adopts procedures and internal control rules covering at least due diligence, the client risk model, suspicions and reporting to the FIU, data retention, politically exposed persons and sanctions checks, and new technologies and products²⁶. A credit or financial institution cannot be exempted from documenting these rules²⁷. Senior management adopts the rules²⁸, and client-facing staff are trained on starting and regularly after that²⁹.

Place of business. The application gives the address of every place of service, including the website³⁰. A company still being founded may apply with its founding document; the licence takes effect at the earliest when it acquires legal capacity³¹.

Documents filed with the application

The application contains the general data required by MSÜS (name and registry code, contact details, field of activity, signatory)¹¹ and, under RahaPTS § 70 (3) and (4)³⁰:

The business and its places of service

• the address of each place of service, including the website, and the responsible person for each;
• information on which financial service will be provided;
• a list of payment accounts held in the undertaking's name, with the unique identifier and account provider of each.

People

• for board members and procurators: education, a full list of jobs and positions, the board member's area of responsibility, and documents showing trustworthiness and proper business reputation;
• data of the FIU contact person and of the person responsible for international financial sanctions;
• for an undertaking not in the Estonian Commercial Register: its owner, beneficial owner and management body members.

Foreign persons

• for a foreign undertaking or a foreign national among the board, procurators, beneficial owners or owners: a home-country criminal record certificate not older than three months, notarised and legalised or apostilled, and copies of identity documents for every citizenship³⁰; if these do not prove the absence of convictions fully, a sworn statement is added³².

AML/CFT

• the procedures and internal control rules under RahaPTS §§ 14 and 15, and the sanctions procedures under the International Sanctions Act³⁰.

Applications and notices are filed only through the Estonian state portal (eesti.ee) or through a notary³³.

State fee and processing time

The state fee for reviewing an application for an activity licence to operate as a financial institution is 3,300 euros¹². It is paid when the application is submitted³⁴.

Under RahaPTS § 71 (1), the FIU grants or refuses the licence within 60 days, counted from the submission of all required documents and data, and may extend this up to 120 days; silence does not mean the licence is granted¹⁴. The authority may ask for additional data and set a reasonable time limit for it³⁵. An incomplete, incorrect, misleading or improperly formalised application is left unexamined³⁶. These are the law's time limits for the authority, not a promise of a date or a decision.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

Package A (€17,500): a new Estonian private limited company (OÜ) owned by the client and the complete documentation for the FIU application as a financial institution providing guarantee and surety transactions. It includes the incorporation documents, the application and business plan, the AML/CFT risk assessment and procedures, job descriptions for the FIU contact person and compliance roles, guarantee issuance, collateral and claims procedures, guarantee contract templates, and submission coordination and ordinary communication with the FIU.

Package B (€26,500): Package A plus a framework for cooperation with licensed banking partners for instruments those banks issue, such as standby letters of credit and bank guarantees.

The first complete version of the documentation is ready within one week after LexorCorp receives all required source information. 50% of the fee is paid on ordering, 50% before the final package. The state fee is paid by the client, who also provides the source information, appoints the owners, board members and responsible persons, and signs.

LexorCorp prepares the documents and manages the process; it does not give legal, audit or tax advice. An FIU licence is not a banking licence. The FIU decides on the licence, and LexorCorp cannot promise that it will be granted or by what date.

Order: order form (choose Package A or Package B).

Sources

1. KAS § 6 (1) 6 — text in force from 01.10.2026
2. KAS § 5 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
3. KAS § 4 (1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
4. KAS § 13 (1)-(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026
5. KindlTS § 2 (1) — text in force from 21.07.2026
6. KindlTS § 12 (1) 15 — text in force from 21.07.2026
7. KindlTS § 15 (1)-(2) — text in force from 21.07.2026
8. RahaPTS § 2 (1) 2 — text in force from 21.07.2026
9. RahaPTS § 6 (2) 11 — text in force from 21.07.2026
10. RahaPTS § 70 (1) 1 — text in force from 21.07.2026
11. MSÜS § 19 (2) 1 and § 15 (1) — text in force from 01.09.2025
12. RLS § 269 (1) 2 — text in force from 01.11.2026
13. RahaPTS § 53 (1) — text in force from 21.07.2026
14. RahaPTS § 71 (1) — text in force from 21.07.2026
15. RahaPTS § 64 (1) — text in force from 21.07.2026
16. MSÜS § 8 (1), (4); § 53 (1) — text in force from 01.09.2025
17. FIU website, Authorisation for economic activity — text in force from page as read 11.11.2026
18. RahaPTS § 70 (2) — text in force from 21.07.2026
19. RahaPTS § 75 (1) 3 — text in force from 21.07.2026
20. RahaPTS § 72 (1) — text in force from 21.07.2026
21. RahaPTS § 72 (2) 1, 5 — text in force from 21.07.2026
22. RahaPTS § 17 (1) — text in force from 21.07.2026
23. RahaPTS § 17 (2) — text in force from 21.07.2026
24. RahaPTS § 17 (5) — text in force from 21.07.2026
25. RahaPTS § 13 (1), (4) — text in force from 21.07.2026
26. RahaPTS § 14 (1) — text in force from 21.07.2026
27. RahaPTS § 14 (7) — text in force from 21.07.2026
28. RahaPTS § 14 (3) — text in force from 21.07.2026
29. RahaPTS § 14 (6) — text in force from 21.07.2026
30. RahaPTS § 70 (3) 1–11 and (4) — text in force from 21.07.2026
31. MSÜS § 19 (4) — text in force from 01.09.2025
32. RahaPTS § 70 (3¹) — text in force from 21.07.2026
33. RahaPTS § 70 (6) — text in force from 21.07.2026
34. MSÜS § 19 (7) — text in force from 01.09.2025
35. MSÜS § 19 (6) — text in force from 01.09.2025
36. RahaPTS § 71 (2) — text in force from 21.07.2026

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

• Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation
• State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources in the text are named without links; the official texts are linked under Official sources. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.