Vējonis: Perfection of financial sector supervision must be continued after Latvia’s accession to the OECD as well

“Latvia’s accession to the club of developed countries is a proof that there was committed and target-minded contribution made when strengthening the country's financial sector supervision and international reputation. However, after joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), continuing the reforms is important for Latvia in order to improve the quality of our financial sector and develop the capacity of financial supervision, in particular in anti-money laundering,” stressed President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis during his meeting with the Chairperson of Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) Pēters Putniņš.

 

Strengthening reputation of Latvian financial sector by establishing and strengthening the highest standards set by the international organizations is very important. Thus, confidence of partner countries and international investors in Latvia will be enhanced having positive impact on credit rating and economic growth as a whole.

 

During the meeting, the President of Latvia expressed confidence that the initiatives that the FCMC launched should be continued and were fully supported both in strengthening the Commission’s internal capacity and improving the legislation regulating the financial system so that particular measures of supervision policy and mechanisms for anti-money laundering and terrorism financing would be introduced in the work of commercial banks.

 

“Introduction of the best practice standards of international organizations, particularly the OECD, in the financial sector like anti-money laundering and terrorism financing has been one of the most important terms of reference of the FCMC. We have achieved a lot. The financial sector of Latvia has experienced significant changes recently. There have been changes in the statutory framework of supervision and supervisory practice of the FCMC. It is important to be open to required changes in the future as well,” said P.Putniņš during the meeting.

 

According to Raimonds Vējonis, the latest data suggested that the current Latvia’s economic growth was slow and intensified cautiousness of the banks in issuing financing to enterprises was one of the reasons for that resulting in the fact that enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, had limited opportunities to start or further develop their businesses.

 

“Banks should be more actively involved in crediting of enterprises in order to encourage formation of new businesses, to develop existing businesses, and increase exported volumes of the goods manufactured in Latvia. Stable and developed financial sector has always been among the most essential prerequisites for business development and providers of investment capital to enterprises,” stated the President of Latvia.