Banking environment of Latvia
Banking sector in Latvia is a highly developed industry aiming at facilitating the growth of the common European Economic Area and the European Single Market. Latvian government strives to bring the local banking system closer to the European standards, which is why a number of anti-money laundering and tax evasion programmes are in place. Due diligence procedures are strict, but straightforward and not difficult for honest business owners.
The simplest way to open a bank account in Latvia is to have the following prepared when approaching a bank:
- definitely know in which bank you are going to apply to;
- have all the requested documents prepared;
- have an appointment with a manager, not simply walking in;
- have a reference from a bank’s partner-company.
To read more about the actual procedures and documents needed when opening a Latvian bank account, please refer to this article about banking in Latvia.
Banks
There are about 30 banks in Latvia, 10 of which are the branches of international banks. Almost all of the Latvian banks also provide services to international clients. To see the list of the most prominent Latvian banks worthy of international investments, please refer to this article about bank accounts in Latvia.
SWIFT codes of Latvian banks
A SWIFT code or a Business Identifier code is a unique number assigned to financial institutions, such as banks. SWIFT codes are used as a part of the bank account number during financial transactions. The codes act as an additional security measure and are required to perform any transactions between the banks that are part of the SWIFT network.
Here you will find the SWIFT codes for all the Latvian banks and related institutions.
| Name of the Bank | SWIFT code |
|---|---|
| ABLV Bank | AIZKLV22 |
| DNB Banka | RIKOLV2X |
| Expobank (Formerly LTB Bank) | LATCLV22 |
| Meridian Trade Bank | MULTLV2X |
| Privatbank | PRTTLV22 |
| Baltic International Bank | BLIBLV22 |
| Baltikums Bank | CBBRLV22 |
| Bank M2M Europe | LLBBLV2X |
| Bank Of Latvia (CCBM or correspondent central banking model operations) | LACBLV2XCCB |
| Bank Of Latvia | LACBLV2X |
| Danske Bank, Latvija Branch | MARALV22 |
| Eastern European Payment System | EPASLV22 |
| Eesti Krediidipank Latvijas Filiāle | MOSBLV2X |
| First Data Latvia | FRDLLV22 |
| FSC EU | FSCELV22 |
| Citadele Banka | PARXLV22 |
| Streampay | LLSTLV22 |
| Latvian Central Depository | LCDELV22 |
| Latvijas Pasta Banka | LAPBLV2X |
| Nordea Bank AB Latvia Branch (Formerly Nordea Bank Finland Latvia Branch) | NDEALV2X |
| Norvik Banka | LATBLV22 |
| OP Corporate Bank Latvia Branch | OKOYLV2X |
| Reģionālā Investīciju Banka | RIBRLV22 |
| Rietumu Banka | RTMBLV2X |
| Rigensis Bank | RGNSLV22 |
| Seb Banka | UNLALV2X |
| Transact Pro | TPROLV22 |
| Svenska Handelsbanken AB Latvian Branch | HANDLV22 |
| Swedbank | HABALV22 |
| Treasury Of The Republic Of Latvia | TRELLV22 |
Banking secrecy
In general, Latvian banking secrecy is rated to be moderately secretive accщrding to 'Tax Justice Network'. According the the law 'On Credit Institutions', banks must ensure that no information regarding their clients' identity, accounts, deposits or transactions is disclosed to third parties. It is a criminal offense to disclose such an information, either on purpose or accidentally, and a person who commits this crime is to be prosecuted.
There is a number of exceptions on disclosing the information, however. All of them are related to official, government-related matters. The following institutions have the right to obtain the aforementioned banking information:
- Office of the Republic Prosecutor
- courts
- Latvian Financial Intelligence Unit
- State Revenue Service
- other government-related institutions (only for residents' information)
It must be noted, that even if such an information is requested by one of these institutions, it must be approved by both a court and a government decision. Without these permissions, no institution can obtain private banking information.
