February 16, 2016
Latvia’s financial watchdog attempted to reassure lenders handling dollar transactions that the deals are properly vetted and pose little risk, in response to criticism from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and U.S. officials.
Banks in the country of 2 million people have become embroiled in scandals that included bribes by a Scandinavian telecommunications company and a Russian tax fraud. Latvia’s regulator has stepped up penalties since a critical report by the OECD was published last year. The watchdog fined Privatbank AS’s Latvian unit a record 2 million euros ($2.2 million) for handling some of the money from a $1 billion theft from Moldova, more than ten times the previous record fine. The bank denies wrongdoing.