FIU Management meeting with President of Latvia E. Rinkēvičs

On September 3, the President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs met with the management of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Latvia (FIU) – the Head of the FIU Toms Platacis, Deputy Head of Sanctions Paulis Iļjenkovs and Deputy Head of Strategy Development Marta Jaksona. During the meeting, the parties discussed important issues related to the progress of the Moneyval 6^th round evaluation, the execution of sanctions, as well as the prevention of money laundering. As it is known, Latvia will be the first country to be evaluated in the 6^th  evaluation round of “Moneyval”. Active work is currently taking place, providing information on the progress of Latvia in the field of AML/CFT and involving a wide range of responsible ministries and institutions. Latvia is expected to receive the latest assessment by the end of 2025.

On April 1, 2024, the Financial Intelligence Unit became the competent institution for the implementation of both international and national sanctions in Latvia. These changes were made to establish a single point of contact and a central authority for sanctions enforcement, improving communication between the private and public sectors. FIU's new features include publishing information on sanctioned entities, frozen assets, and economic resources, as well as maintaining a publicly available sanctions list on FIU Latvia’s website. With its expanded functions, the FIU now issues binding decisions related to sanctions, including asset freezing, release, and implementation activities, while also granting authorizations for derogations from sanctions (licensing), such as approving transactions or activities. The FIU remains committed to its core tasks of overseeing sanctions implementation and ensuring effective communication between the private and public sectors.

The President of Latvia stated that it is important to continue monitoring the application of sanctions in Latvia and to prevent the circumvention of sanctions.

Photo author: Ilmārs Znotiņš, Chancery of the President of Latvia