Latvia has gone from being a risky financial environment to becoming an internationally recognized standard in fight against money laundering - Justice Ministry

RIGA - From a country that was recently considered a risky financial environment, Latvia has become an internationally recognized standard in the fight against money laundering, the Ministry of Justice (TM) told LETA, commenting on the latest Moneyval assessment of Latvia.

Minister of Justice Inese Libina-Egnere (New Unity) believes that Latvia's experience can serve as a model for other countries that want to strengthen their financial systems and combat financial crime more effectively.

The Ministry of Justice points out that significant reforms have been implemented to prevent the use of legal entities in financial crimes. Transparency is ensured not only at the time of company registration, but also during its operation, by identifying potential risks in a timely manner.

In order to maintain a high level of transparency, close cooperation is needed between the Register of Enterprises, supervisory and control authorities, as well as the companies themselves, according to the Ministry of Justice. This approach strengthens trust and security for both local and international cooperation partners.

Libina-Egnere emphasizes that a positive Moneyval assessment is comparable to a country's credit rating, as it directly affects Latvia's reputation, the cost of financial transactions, opportunities for cooperation between banks, access to international capital, and investor confidence.

The higher the assessment, the more favorable the environment for business and investment in Latvia, the minister is convinced.

The minister thanks the institutions, experts, and private sector representatives for their work in implementing international standards and strengthening the country's financial and legal environment.

As reported, the Moneyval report on the results of Latvia's mutual evaluation was published on Thursday.

The Financial Intelligence Unit of Latvia (FIU Latvia) informed LETA that Latvia has received an international assessment confirming the country's effectiveness in fighting financial crime, thus strengthening the integrity of the financial sector and contributing to safety and security of international financial system. According to the FIU, the report highlights that Latvia achieved high or substantial levels of effectiveness in all Immediate Outcomes (IOs), except one. Overall, the findings recognize Latvia's significant progress and its long-term commitment to fighting money laundering, terrorist, and proliferation financing.

Moneyval is the Council of Europe's expert committee that assesses member states against the FATF standards.

FIU Latvia head Toms Platacis commented that this evaluation sends a strong signal that Latvia is now recognized as a reliable and effective partner in the global fight against financial crime and sanctions evasion.

Around five years ago, Moneyval placed Latvia under heightened supervision, and Latvia was faced with the risk of being included on a list of countries identified as having strategic anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing deficiencies, the so-called "grey list".

In order to avoid being placed on the "grey list", Latvia launched extensive reforms or an "overhaul" of its financial system, which, among other things, led to much stricter requirements for credit institutions' customers and had a negative impact on the availability of loans.