The majority of banks whose business activities are associated with servicing non-residents will continue working in Latvia, as confirmed by Finance and Capital Market Commission Peters Putnins.
He said that a previous outlook stated that certain banks could cease working in Latvia because of the restriction for banks to cooperate with shell companies.
“This outlook remains in force. It is likely we will see some of them change their jurisdiction. Certain clients may change their minds about Latvia and its attractiveness. I am confident that most of non-resident banks will stay in Latvia – it is unlikely our banking sector will collapse and only Scandinavian banks will remain,” said Putnins.
He also said banks servicing non-residents had to submit their new business plans no later than June 30. There are banks that have already done this and banks that have not.
“I think everyone will make it before the deadline. Once this is done, we will spend the next two the three months discussing plans with banks. As promised before, we will provide our opinion about non-resident banks’ chosen direction around autumn. Around winter the plans will be incorporated in monitoring documents,” added Putnins. (BNN/Business World Magazine)