The Silin government at its last meeting before going down in history decided not to take into account the position of the industry and social partners.
Today marks the last meeting of the Silin government - it is expected that on Thursday, the Saeima will approve the new government of Kulbergs. Before going down in history, the Silin government decided to approve and send a package of legislative amendments to the Saeima as part of the "reform," which essentially entails that starting next year, the Bank of Latvia will take over the supervisory functions over the non-banking sector (financial companies) from the Consumer Rights Protection Centre. It should be noted that the social partners of the government - the Employers' Confederation and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry - have expressed skepticism towards this "reform." They did not agree to this reform, and the Consumer Rights Protection Centre itself categorically opposed it, with its director, Zaiga Liepiņa, emphasizing today at the meeting that the proposed changes do not address the main issue - consumer rights protection, as the Bank of Latvia simply lacks such experience! Meanwhile, the head of the non-banking sector association Fintech Latvia, Tina Luse, noted that the goals of this reform are unclear and questioned why break what is working effectively? The Consumer Rights Protection Centre is quite capable of overseeing financial companies, and there are no problems in this regard. Economy Minister Viktor Valainis echoed this sentiment, pointing out that there are enough real problems in the country that need to be addressed, and there is no need for this dubious reform. Valainis and industry representatives called for the package of bills not to be advanced further.
On the contrary, the President of the Bank of Latvia, Mārtiņš Kazaks, urged support for the proposed changes and promised that a transitional period would be granted to the non-banking sector. He deemed it logical that the regulation of the entire financial sector would be concentrated in one place - at the Bank of Latvia.
Former Prime Minister Evika Silinā called for the approval of the package of changes to the regulations, but agreed that a longer transitional period should be provided. She believes that transferring supervisory functions to the Bank of Latvia starting January 1 of next year is too soon, as the sector simply will not have enough time to prepare for such changes. The Prime Minister expressed hope that the deadlines would be adjusted in the Saeima. As a result, the package of bills will be submitted to the Saeima next week, and the deputies will decide whether to begin consideration of this reform in substance - in the parliamentary committee.
