Riga, June 7, 2018 – On June 6, Department of the Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea met with Latvian officials to emphasize the importance assigned by the United States to our close bilateral relationship. He reiterated the value of swift, meaningful reform to protect the Latvian financial system from illicit finance threats and noted the progress Latvia has already made. Assistant Secretary Billingslea urged officials to accelerate legal and policy reform efforts to bolster the international reputation of the Latvian financial sector. In their meetings, Latvian officials shared upcoming efforts to decrease non-resident banking services and their intention to allocate additional resources to anti-money laundering and counter the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.
Latvia’s long-term economic growth requires a strong and well-regulated banking sector. As close NATO Allies and friends, the United States and Latvia remain committed to working together to improve the investment climate by aggressively countering illicit finance threats.
