FCMC and JSC "BlueOrange Bank" have entered into an administrative agreement, a fine of 1.2 million euro imposed
The Financial and Capital Market Commission (hereinafter - FCMC) and JSC “BlueOrange Bank” (hereinafter – the Bank) have entered into an administrative agreement on setting legal obligations under the scope of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (AML law) in order to improve the functioning of the Bank's internal control system. The agreement provides for a fine of 1 246 798 euro on the Bank.
Further information in Latvian: http://www.fktk.lv/lv/mediju-telpa/pazinojumi-masu-informacijas-l/2018/7404-fktk-un-as-blueorange-bank-parakstijusi-administrativo-ligumu-piemerots-sods-1-2-milj-eiro-apmera.html
On sanctions imposed by FCMC
Since the changes of the AML/TF regime in the international financial environment along with the reforms to the Latvian banking sector taken by the FCMC over the past four years, various sanctions for the breaches of AML law have been applied to the financial sector entities, including the fines in the amount of approximately 16 million euro.
In the European Union (EU) there is a common approach to the application of penalties for the AML/TF regime violations. At present, the maximum fine per institution in the AML/TF area may be up to 10% of annual turnover, or 5 million euro in case the 10% are less than 5 million euro. The FCMC imposes penalties on an individual basis, evaluating attitude of the institution, seriousness of breaches, as well as the improvements the institution is planning to implement. The penalty size applied to financial institutions in Latvia is comparative (as a percentage) with the penalties imposed on the financial institutions abroad. The comparison against the final amount is not correct because the turnover of Latvian financial institutions and their volume of assets are significantly lower than the EU average.