Page 29 - bne_newspaper_July_12_2019

Weekly Lists
July 12, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 29
bne:Banker
Head of Latvia’s financial watchdog resigns amid row over money laundering fight
Turkey’s ruling AKP proposes amendment to central bank law to tap legal reserves
The head of the Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK), the country’s financial system watchdog, resigned on July 5 amidst differences over Riga’s plans to clean up its financial system ahead of the Council of Europe’s review.
Latvia will undergo a review next year by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s body monitoring money laundering and terrorism financ- ing, in the wake of a string of scandals that shook the Baltic state in recent years.
Peters Putnins, the FKTK’s chairman, submitted his resignation on July 4, the Latvian Finance Minister Janis Reirs told a news conference on July 5, Reuters reported. The minister said Putnins’ resignation would allow “more productive talks” with Moneyval.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP is proposing amendments to the central bank law to change the monetary authority’s legal reserves ratios, Mehmet Mus, an AKP official, said on July 8, Reuters reported.
“We are making [central bank] legal reserves comply with Turkish trade law. We are proposing that legal reserves be 10% of profits after necessary deductions are made,” Mus also said.
The Turkish government plans to transfer the central bank’s TRY46bn ($8bn) in legal reserves to its deteriorating budget to narrow the deficit, according to the news service.
The move came shortly after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked the central bank governor Murat Cetinkaya in an unprecedented move.
China’s second-largest bank, China Construction Bank (CCB), is considering expanding to Bulgaria, Tsvetan Simeonov, head of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.
Earlier in July, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev called on China to open representation of a bank in the country in order to boost the investments.
CCB’s senior representatives have visited the country, Simeonov said.
CCB, set up in 1954, is among the top commercial banks in continental China. As of end-2018, its assets were worth $3.3 trillion, while its profit stood at $37bn.
China’s second-largest bank eyes expansion in Bulgaria