Latvian Capital Market Forum 2023

On 8 February 2023 from 9.00 to 16.00, the Latvian Capital Market Forum 2023 "Growth Loves Those Who Dare" organised by Latvijas Banka will take place. The forum aims to promote expert discussions and institutional cooperation in order to develop Latvia's capital market and maximise its potential.

Verena Ross, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, and Mārtiņš Kazāks, Governor of Latvijas Banka, will open the forum. The on-site forum will bring together around 150 participants, while more than 20 sector experts and opinion leaders will participate in four panel discussions to look at the opportunities of private investors and businesses offered by the Latvian and Baltic capital markets, as well as the characteristics and development opportunities of these markets on a European scale.

Santa Purgaile, Deputy Governor of Latvijas Banka, emphasises: "The development of Latvia's capital market is an important priority on our agenda also after the integration of the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) into Latvijas Banka. By actively approaching and involving partners, we continue our work to make the local capital market even more attractive in the eyes of investors and entrepreneurs."

The forum is organised in two parts. The opportunities of private investors in the European Union will be assessed in Part I.  The panel discussion "Investment in the European Union – Capital Markets Union from Intention to Action" moderated by Ivars Bergmanis, Head of Institutional Markets, LHV Bank, will focus on the reasons why the capital markets of the three Baltic countries are among the least developed ones in the European Union and what should be done to change the situation. It has been planned that Verena Ross, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, and Santa Purgaile, Deputy Governor of Latvijas Banka, will join the discussion. Meanwhile, Kaspars Peisenieks, Executive Manager of Investoru Klubs, will moderate the panel discussion "Behaviour of Private Investors in the Baltic Capital Markets" and encourage private investors, as well as the representatives of Estonian and Finnish investor organisations to discuss the behavioural trends of Latvian, Estonian and Finnish investors and the underlying reasons for these trends.

The capital market opportunities for businesses will be discussed by experts in Part II of the forum. Part II will start with the panel discussion "Capital Market – More than a Source of Funding?" in which Māris Vainovskis, Senior Partner of "Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns" Law Office, will invite representatives of the current and potential capital market participants to discuss capital market conditions, i.e. benefits and losses of businesses when exploiting the opportunities brought by the capital market.

Uldis Rutkaste, Head of the Monetary Policy Department of Latvijas Banka, will continue with the subject by making a presentation "How to Finance the Development of a Company during the Period of the High Interest Rates?" It will be followed by the panel discussion "Role of the Capital Market in the Funding of Sustainable Economy". Moderator of the discussion – Daiga Auziņa-Melalksne, Chair of the Board, AS Nasdaq Riga, will encourage the panellists to find answers to the questions why the capital market should be developed in Latvia, what benefits will businesses and the Latvian economy enjoy, how this will improve the competitiveness of businesses and why this issue is particularly important during the period of the high interest rates.

The forum programme is available here: https://www.bank.lv/en/operational-areas/supervision/capital-market/latvian-capital-market-forum-2023

Live broadcast of the forum will be available on www.kapitalaforums2023.lv, www.macroeconomics.lv, as well as on Latvijas Banka's Facebook and Youtube accounts.

This is already the third Latvian Capital Market Forum. In 2020, to identify and address the challenges faced by the market, the FCMC listened to the views of the institutions engaged in the capital market concerning their current experience, assessment of the regulatory framework and outlook for the capital market development. Experts provided their opinion on the challenges of the capital market in Latvia and the possible development scenarios. In parallel, the FCMC conducted a survey of the former, existing and potential participants of the Latvian capital market, as well as assessed its situation. On the basis of the conclusions of the strategic dialogue, the survey and the FCMC's assessment, a "10-step programme for the development of Latvia's capital market" was developed and has been implemented sequentially over these years. Following the FCMC's integration into Latvijas Banka, Latvijas Banka continues to pursue this action line.

A developed capital market gives a boost to the domestic and foreign investment inflows in Latvia, opens up ample opportunities for local and foreign entrepreneurs to raise financial resources, and enables investors to make investment in the development of Latvia's economy.