European Merchant Bank reinforces advanced risk management and accelerates sustainable SME financing through extended collaboration with Moody’s
European Merchant Bank (EMBank) has extended its strategic cooperation agreement with Moody’s, one of the world’s leading credit rating, data and analytics providers, for an additional three-year term. The renewed agreement underscores EMBank’s long-term commitment to best-in-class risk governance, disciplined capital management, and the sustainable scaling of SME financing in Lithuania.
As EMBank continues to expand its local lending activities, particularly to small and medium-sized enterprises, the extended cooperation with Moody’s will further strengthen the bank’s ability to manage credit, market and balance sheet risks across its growing corporate loan portfolio. By leveraging Moody’s advanced analytical frameworks, EMBank enhances forward-looking credit assessment, robust provisioning practices, and resilient capital planning, fully aligned with European regulatory expectations.
“Our continued use of Moody’s services represents a cornerstone of EMBank’s risk strategy,” said Eugenijus Preikša, Chief Risk Officer at EMBank. “Access to sophisticated risk models, high-quality data and scenario-based analytics allows us to assess credit risk with a high degree of precision across SMEs, financial institutions and non-banking financial institutions. This enables prudent provisioning, informed capital allocation and, ultimately, sustainable growth that supports the real economy.”
Preikša adds “ As we scale SME financing in Lithuania — particularly in sectors linked to energy efficiency, sustainable development and technological innovation — it is essential that risks are measured using the most advanced tools available. Our cooperation with Moody’s allows us to maintain a balanced risk profile while actively contributing to long-term economic growth.”
Sarp Demiray, CEO of European Merchant Bank, highlights the bank’s strong and consistent growth trajectory:
“Over the past three years, EMBank has demonstrated solid momentum. Our customer base has doubled, while our business loan portfolio has reached out to EUR 50 million. We remain firmly focused on SMEs and corporate clients investing in innovation, automation, digitalisation and sustainability-driven projects. Our objective is to grow our business loan portfolio by at least 50% in the coming year, while continuing to act as a trusted long-term partner for businesses of all sizes, with individual loan amounts ranging from EUR 5,000 to EUR 2.5 million.”
European Merchant Bank is licensed by the European Central Bank (ECB) and operates within the European regulatory framework. The bank is a member of SEPA, VISA B2B Connect, SWIFT and TARGET2, providing working capital and investment loans with a strong focus on SMEs operating in manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, transport, rental and leasing, real estate and construction.
