Indexo is a licensed investment management company offering 2nd and 3rd pillar pension plans in Latvia, with more than 132,000 clients and more than EUR 1.09 billion under management. Indexo is listed on the Nasdaq Riga stock exchange with almost 6,000 shareholders.
The license was granted to Indexo's subsidiary IDX1R AS, which will be renamed Indexo Banka AS upon receipt of the license, said Ieva Bauma, Member of the Board of Indexo and Chief Marketing Officer of Indexo, in a press release
"The license to operate as a credit institution in Latvia has been issued to a new participant after a gap of more than ten years. [...] The objective of the Bank of Latvia is to ensure that Latvia has high-quality, innovative, and convenient financial services. Healthy competition will in turn promote the development of financial services and the sector as a whole," said Santa Purgaile, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Latvia.
It is also the first banking license in Latvia issued after Latvia's accession to the euro area, and the European Central Bank has been involved in issuing it.
Indexo Banka plans to focus on day-to-day banking, card issuing, lending and deposit taking, the Bank of Latvia said.
The new bank is expected to start operations this summer, but the exact date will be announced in the coming months. The bank's services will initially be offered to private customers, while corporate services will be introduced slightly later, within 6 to 9 months after the launch, Indexo said.
Currently, there are 10 credit institutions and four branches of foreign banks in Latvia.