Commercial Bank licence (bankovní licence) (Czech Republic)

At a glance

What it lets you do

• Taking deposits from the public
• Lending
• Execution of payment transactions

• Taking deposits from the public. Accepting deposits or other repayable funds from the public, the activity reserved to credit institutions.
• Lending. Granting loans, including consumer credit, mortgage credit, factoring and financing of commercial transactions.
• Execution of payment transactions. Executing direct debits, card payments and credit transfers, including standing orders, from a payment account.

Where it is valid

Cost

Buying a company that already holds it

Prior notification with an objection period. Under Section 18 of the Payment Systems Act (Act No. 370/2017 Coll.), any person or persons acting in concert intending to acquire, dispose of, or increase a qualifying holding in a payment institution or electronic money institution reaching or exceeding 20%, 30%, or 50% of voting rights or capital, or become the controlling person, must notify the CNB in advance via electronic filing. The CNB assesses the trustworthiness and suitability of the proposed acquirer within a statutory 60-working-day window and may initiate proceedings to issue a formal objection (vyslovení nesouhlasu). In the absence of an objection or upon affirmative notification, the acquisition may proceed. Acquiring qualifying holdings in breach of notification or objection leads to statutory forfeiture of voting rights. In contrast, for banks and investment firms under Act No. 21/1992 Coll. and Act No. 256/2004 Coll., prior approval (předchozí souhlas) is required subject to a CZK 20,000 fee under Item 66 of Act No. 634/2004 Coll. Small-scale providers (PPSMR/VEPMR) are exempt from change-of-control clearance.⁶