RIGA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Daniele Nouy, chairperson of the European Central Bank's (ECB) Supervisory Board, made a working visit to Latvia on Tuesday to meet with Latvian bank supervisors for discussions on bank management mechanisms, new business lines and strategies, as well as risk management in the eurozone in the context of future challenges, said the Latvian banking regulator.
Peteris Putnins, head of the Latvia's Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC), assured Nouy of the Latvian banking sector's overall stability and soundness.
Latvia is a member of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the European Union's (EU) supranational bank supervisory body since 2014, and three of its largest banks by assets -- Swedbank, SEB Banka and Luminor Bank -- are under the mechanism's supervision.
Putnins noted that the FCMC has been exercising bank supervision within the SSM for four years already and the integration is becoming deeper.
"Overall, stability and soundness reign in the Latvian banking sector; however, it is important to share opinions on the application and enhancement of supervisory methods, risk management in view of actual trends in the country, for example, the radical change in the business strategies of part of our banks," Putnins told Nouy.
He indicated that the Latvian banking regulator's key tasks for the nearest future include the revaluation of supervisory priorities, enhancing monitoring methodologies, as well as potential structural reforms in the FCMC to boost the regulator's efficiency.
In July, the ECB revoked the license of Latvia's third largest bank ABLV, which also was under the SSM's supervision. The bank's operations were halted in February after U.S. authorities accused ABLV of involvement in money-laundering schemes.
