background
KÄHARI LEGAL SERVICES
Financial Regulations.
Licenses.
Compliance.
Risk Management.
Corporate Governance.

End-to-end legal, regulatory and compliance support for financial institutions, fintech businesses, investors and management bodies entering, operating, restructuring or exiting the Estonian and European markets.

26.
Years
Experience
in the Legal and Financial Services Industries

VILJAR KÄHARI

has more than 26 years of experience in the legal and financial services industries. His background combines senior banking roles at SEB and Nordea, banking and finance practice at Sorainen, and ten years as co-founder and managing partner of PwC Legal Estonia.

This combination enables him to assess regulatory questions not only as legal issues, but also from the perspective of management responsibility, governance, risk, finance and practical execution.

Bar Membership Estonian Bar, since 2006
Education Concordia International University Estonia (LL.M)
Certifications ISO 31000 Risk Manager
Languages English, Estonian

Regulatory advice that connects the full picture.

Financial regulation does not operate in isolation. A licence application, product launch or remediation project must align the business model, ownership, governance, capital, people, controls, technology, outsourcing and customer journey.

KÄHARI Legal brings these elements together in one controlled project to establish a structure that is legally sound, operationally workable and credible under regulatory scrutiny.

Core Legal & Regulatory Services

Financial Regulation & Licensing

Authorisation, registration, and EEA market-entry projects for financial institutions, fintech, and crypto-asset businesses.

Compliance, Risk & Governance

Governance, three-lines-of-defence, AML/CFT, sanctions, outsourcing, and internal control framework design.

Management Suitability & Ownership

Fit and proper assessments, qualifying holdings, ownership transparency, and source of funds analysis.

Financing & Security Agent

Financing transactions, debt instruments, collateral packages, and security agent structures.

Restructuring & Wind-down

Loan restructuring, creditor representation, insolvency, and controlled wind-down of regulated businesses.

Board & Advisory Roles

Independent management or supervisory board roles and senior advisory mandates, subject to suitability review.

Selected Experience.

Financial Licensing

Electronic Money Institution Authorisation

Leading the legal and documentary workstream for an Estonian e-money institution application, including governance, business model, policies, outsourcing, management suitability and submission-package control.

Crypto-assets

MiCA Authorisation and Governance

Advising on the preparation and quality control of a crypto-asset service provider authorisation package, including risk policies, management-body evidence, conflicts and individual and collective suitability.

Perimeter Review

Regulated Business Model Assessment

Assessing whether an innovative financial product falls within a regulated perimeter and redesigning the legal, payment and control structure to address supervisory concerns.
Who
I Advise

The practice serves stakeholders across the financial-sector life cycle from founders seeking their first licence to creditors recovering from a distressed regulated business.

  • Banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions
  • Investment firms, fund managers and investment structures
  • Credit providers, credit intermediaries and credit servicers
  • Insurance undertakings and insurance intermediaries
  • Crypto-asset service providers, token issuers and fintech businesses
  • Shareholders, investors, lenders, borrowers, creditors and issuers
  • Management boards, supervisory boards and key function holders

From Strategy to Implementation.

01

Assess

Clarify the business model, regulatory perimeter, authorisation route, ownership, target markets and principal risks.

02

Design

Develop a credible governance, organisational, capital, staffing, control-function and outsourcing structure.

03

Build

Prepare and coordinate the application, business plan, internal policies, suitability and ownership evidence.

Independent advice includes saying no.

End-to-end legal and regulatory support for financial institutions, fintech businesses, investors and management bodies entering, operating, restructuring or exiting the Estonian and EEA markets.

Early clarity prevents regulatory failure.

An early assessment can identify whether authorisation is required, which structure is credible, and what evidence must be in place before a formal submission.

Telephone

+372 508 4777

Email

info@kahari.ee

Office

By prior appointment (Tartu, Estonia)