A package of bills has been submitted to the Saeima, which was approved by the government despite the position of the industry and social partners.
By hook or by crook! The Silinie government, at its last meeting this past Tuesday, approved a very questionable reform, the essence of which is to take away from the Consumer Rights Protection Center the function of oversight over non-bank financial organizations and transfer these functions to the Bank of Latvia.
Opposition came from representatives of the non-bank lending industry, social partners of the government in the form of the employers' confederation and the chamber of commerce, as well as from the Consumer Rights Protection Center and the Ministry of Economics.
The director of the Consumer Rights Protection Center, Zaiga Liepiņa, emphasized at the meeting that the proposed changes do not address the main issue – consumer rights protection, since the Bank of Latvia simply lacks such experience!
In turn, the head of the non-bank sector association Fintech Latvia, Tina Lūse, noted that the goals of this reform are unclear and questioned why break what is working effectively? The Consumer Rights Protection Center is fully capable of overseeing financial companies, and there are no issues here. Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis echoed her sentiments, pointing out that there are actually enough real problems in the country that need to be addressed, and there is no need for this dubious reform. Valainis and industry representatives urged not to move this package of bills forward.
However, the majority of the now-historic government approved the package of bills, and on Thursday, the Saeima will decide whether to send these bills for consideration by the parliamentary committee. We dare to assume that this package will be sent to the committee, but further progress with it will face difficulties, as many deputies also do not understand the meaning and necessity of such a "reform."
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