Bank supervision should be reasonable so as not to slow down economic growth - president

RIGA - The mechanism of bank supervision should be reasonable so as not to slow down economic growth and to maintain Latvia's global competitiveness, President Edgars Rinkevics said today during a meeting with senior officials of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

As the president's adviser Martins Dregeris told LETA, Rinkevics met with FIU chief Tomas Plataci and his deputy Paulis Iljenkovs at Riga Castle to the security of the Latvian financial system.

The officials discussed current issues related to the prevention of money laundering and the preparation of the sixth round report of the Council of Europe committee of experts on money laundering and the financing of terrorism, or Moneyval.

The president congratulated Platace on his appointment as FIU chief and commended the unit's active cooperation with the private sector and foreign partners. The president also welcomed the FIU's contribution to educating the public about the risks of financial crime and how to avoid them.

During the meeting, the officials discussed Latvian commercial banks' risks policies and their impact on access to financial services. "The FIU plays an important role in ensuring the security of Latvia's financial system, which is part of the country's overall security. Moreover, the FIU is one of the institutions that ensure effective implementation of international and national sanctions binding on Latvia, including the European Union sanctions against Russia and Belarus," the president said.

Latvia positions itself as a country that has learnt its lessons and cleaned up its financial sector, but at the same time the mechanism of commercial banks' supervision should be reasonable in order not to slow down the growth of the economy and maintain Latvia's competitiveness in the global financial market, Rinkevics said.

As reported, the Saeima appointed Platacis as the new FIU head at the end of this past September.