According to Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Chair of the Saeima National Security Committee, the Committee held a meeting on Monday, 19 February, to discuss the arrest of the Governor of the Bank of Latvia Ilmārs Rimšēvičs and the current status of ABLV Bank with representatives from various relevant institutions.

The Committee meeting was attended by Ēriks Kalnmeiers, Prosecutor General of Latvia, Jēkabs Straume, Head of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), Edvards Kušners, Member of the Supervisory Board of Bank of Latvia, Danu Reizniece-Ozola, Minister for Finance of Latvia, Pēteris Putniņš, Chair of the Financial and Capital Markets Commission, and Gunta Razāne, Deputy Chair of the Financial and Capital Markets Commission.

“All invited officials confirmed that Latvia’s financial system is stable and the circumstances surrounding the ABLV Bank will not lead to a domino effect on other commercial banks in Latvia”, said Lībiņa-Egnere after the meeting. She underlined that ABLV Bank bail-out using the budget money would never be considered as an option and confirmed that such scenario was not even raised at the Committee meeting. More detailed information about the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decisions regarding the ABLV Bank’s case will be released in two days.

“During the meeting, the KNAB representative informed the MPs that the Governor of the Bank of Latvia was arrested in scope of an on-going criminal investigation against a number of individuals, and the arrest was not linked to the ABLV Bank case”, said Lībiņa-Egnere.

The Chair of the National Security Committee believes that Ilmārs Rimšēvičs should submit his resignation letter to avoid further damage to the already tainted reputation of Latvia’s financial system and ensure that Saeima can launch the Governor replacement procedure as soon as possible.

“In the meantime, Saeima will also be working on finding legal ways of removing Ilmārs Rimšēvičs from the position of the Governor of the Bank of Latvia without his express consent. This is not a regular case, which can be resolved according to the Bank of Latvia Law. According to the Law, Saeima can dismiss a Governor of the Bank of Latvia only if the court had found the incumbent guilty of an offence. According to the Statute and Code of Ethics of the ECB, members of the ECB Supervisory Board should have an impeccable reputation and follow rigorous moral standards”, stressed Lībiņa-Egnere.

“This, however, will not affect the usual business of the Bank of Latvia, and all other five members of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Latvia will continue to run the Bank’s daily operations”, added the Chair of the National Security Committee.

The National Security Committee will continue monitoring all further developments in the case.

Saeima Press Service