Banks, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation

“Increased requirements for commercial banks in the field of anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) have been high on the agenda for quite a long time already. For several years already, Rietumu Banka has been making significant investments in boosting its compliance processes and technologies, as well as special staff training,” the bank’s representatives said.

They also noted that the bank’s business has substantially changed in recent years. “For several years, Rietumu Banka has been turning away high-risk clients and substantially reducing the amount of transactions, as the bank has shifted its focus on deposits, loans and technological development,” the bank’s representatives said, adding that the trend has been characteristic not only of Latvia but also the whole world.

The bank’s representatives said that the events of the past month in the Latvian financial sector will not change the character of the bank’s reforms but will definitely speed them up.

“Rietumu Banka operates in accordance with a strategy envisaging further reforms and responsibly contributes to restoring the Latvian financial sector's reputation,” the representatives said.

Rietumu Banka generated EUR 35.037 million in profit last year, which is 2.3 times less than in 2016, according to the unaudited data released by the bank. At the end of 2017, Rietumu Banka had EUR 3.011 billion worth of assets, down 13.4% from the end of 2016 when the bank’s assets were worth EUR 3.466 billion.

At the end of September 2017, Rietumu Banka was the fourth largest bank in Latvia by assets. . The bank's main shareholders are Esterkin Family Investments (33.12%), Maltese company Boswell (International) Consulting Limited (33.11%), and Suharenko Family Investments (17.34%).