The coronacrisis has influenced human behavior in numerous ways, some directly, some indirectly. Among the latter category is the usage of automated teller machines (ATMs), also known as cash machines or bankomāti, according to data from Luminor bank.
Banks
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is among nine persons being sued by the administrators of the insolvent Latvian bank “PNB”, LTV's investigative program De Facto reported October 4.
The Latvian central bank, (Latvijas banka, LB) has released another collector coin to pique the interest of numismatists everywhere. This one is square-ish and dedicated to the theme of Modernist art in Latvia in the 1960s, known as the period of the Thaw, associated with the political developments of that time.
Latvian monetary financial institutions, mainly banks, have been working on profits of €93 million in first eight months of 2020, according to information published by the Bank of Latvia September 28.
On Thursday, September 24, Latvia's Minister for Finance Jānis Reirs, the Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit Ilze Znotiņa and the U.S. Ambassador to Latvia John L. Carwile signed the Terms of Reference between the Republic of Latvia and the US Department of Treasury, prescribing the provision of technical assistance of the U.S. Department of Treasury in the field of anti-money laundering and countering terrorism and proliferation.
Re:Baltica, the Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism, has published more stories outlining the vast scale of money-laundering operations that have taken place in the Baltic states, including Latvia, over recent years.
The Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism, Re:Baltica, released a new series of reports September 20 revealing the vast scale of suspected illicit flows of cash via Latvian banks between 2006 and 2017.
The Ministry of Economics (EM), the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) together with the financial sector have developed a questionnaire for foreign investors intended to save time, EM told Latvian Radio September 18.
Total profit of banks in Latvia in the first half 2020 decreased by 63% or EUR 80 million compared to the results of the 1st half 2019, according to data by Finance Latvia Association, as published September 4.
Latvijas Banka (LB), the Latvian central bank, confirmed September 3 that it will host its annual conference on September 25 at 11:30 with the title "Money and public security"
Latvia's financial regulator the Financial and Capital Markets Commission (FKTK) on August 25 published a list of recommendations for banks and other financial institutions aimed at producing improvements in the areas of internal control and customer due diligence, which have repeatedly proven to be weaknesses in the past.
The European Ombudsman released a decision on July 27 with relevance to the imposition of sanctions against a high-profile individual in Latvia, namely long-time Ventspils mayor and influential political fixer Aivars Lembergs, referred to by U.S. authorities and others as one of Latvia's top "oligarchs".
Lavia's financial regulator the Financial and Capital Markets Commission (FKTK) said July 27 it had approved FinTech company Nordigen as a payment institution "with the right to provide account information services".
The Board of the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) on July 14 2020 decided to apply a fine of EUR 906,610 euros to Signet Bank for breaches of the anti-money laundering and counter terrorism and proliferation financing (AML) regulatory requirements, FKTK said in a news release July 16.
The “Luminor” bank has been informed about calls to customers for the purpose of defrauding the Internet banking access, informed Inese Kronberga, spokeswoman for Luminor, on July 3.
Sweden's financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen (FI), said June 25 it was fining SEB bank 1 billion krona (96 million euros) for "deficiencies in its work to combat anti-money laundering in the Baltics".
A total of 374,882,245 euros, including cash, financial instruments and real estate have been arrested in the criminal procedures into ABLV Bank investigated by the Economic Crime Control Department (ENAP) of the State Police, the LETA newswire reported June 19, citing police as the source.
In Latvia, five banks worked with losses in the first quarter of this year, including Citadele, according to data compiled by the Finance Latvia Association.
On Friday, June 5, the Bank of Latvia will release the 2 euro commemorative coin “Latgalian ceramics”, the Bank reported on June 1.
The Cabinet of Ministers on May 26 supported in principle merging the Bank of Latvia with the financial regulator, the Financial and Capital and Market Commission (FKTK), the LETA newswire reported.
The Ministry of Finance (FM) said May 21 it has submitted a proposal to the cabinet that would place Latvia's independent financial regulator, the Financial and Capital Markets Commission (FKTK) under the wing of the Latvian Central Bank (LB).
Latvia's financial regulator, the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) said April 30 it is fining retail bank Citadele nearly 650,000 euros for failures in its approach to countering money laundering.
Former members of the board of defunct bank Latvijas Krājbanka (Latvian savings bank) face the prospect of having to find around 15 million euros between them as a result of failures of oversight while they were supposed to be ensuring the bank was run in a proper manner, reported Latvian Radio April 28.
Last year Swedbank once again topped the list for audited profits among Latvian banks according to bank public financial records, while four banks posted losses, according LETA news agency on April 22.
The collector coin titled "Cat's Mill" dedicated to the literary work of the Latvian poet, prose-writer and politician Kārlis Skalbe (1879–1945) has been voted Latvia's Coin of the Year 2019 in public vote, the Latvian central bank (Latvijas Banka, LB) announced April 14.
Latvia's retail banks have agreed to raise the standard limit for "contactless" transactions to 50 euros from the previous 25 euros, saying that doing so will potentially help counter the spread of coronavirus via buttons and keypads.
If you're stuck at home doing your bit for social distancing, what better way to pass the time than by weighing up the comparative aesthetic merits of a small selection of Latvian coinage?
Swedbank, the largest retail bank in the Baltic states, has published a report by law firm Clifford Chance, which the bank hired in February 2019 to conduct an investigation of Swedbank’s anti-money laundering work. Swedbank has now made the report available at www.swedbank.com.
The Latvian Central Bank (Latvijas Banka, LB) said March 13 it has joined the global Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (Network for Greening the Financial System; NGFS).
In what it said was an important milestone, on March 5, Baltic bank Luminor anounced that it had issued the first covered bonds from the Baltic region a day earlier, to the tune of 500 million euros.