On Friday, February 21, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced that Latvia has established a strong and robust financial crime prevention system and will not be subject to “enhanced supervision” or included in the so-called “gray list”.
“The ambitious work on adjusting the regulation of financial sector, as well as its supervision and control, has paid off! The decision not to be the subject to enhanced supervision will serve as an incentive for us to continue our work aimed at economic development and supporting business. Credit institutions are provided with all the prerequisites to continue to work with a clear awareness of specific risks for Latvia and to contribute to the growth of our country,” says Jānis Reirs, Minister of Finance.
The financial sector needed a “major overhaul” in order to strengthen the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and to achieve full compliance with the international standards in this area. The arrangement of the financial sector and further work on financial crime prevention would not be possible without the efforts of all parties involved.
In order to ensure a transparent, sustainable and safe operation of the financial sector in Latvia, laws on the financial sector’s “major overhaul” – amendments to the Financial and Capital Market Law and the Law on Credit Institutions – were drafted and approved. These legislative changes are considered to be one of the most ambitious financial sector reform programs in Europe to date, and they confirm Latvia’s commitment to a stable and transparent financial sector as a basis for sustainable growth and prosperity for all the citizens of Latvia.
Information source: Ministry of Finance