Bank of Latvia
Head office in Riga, formerly branch building of the State Bank of the Russian Empire | |
| Headquarters | Riga |
|---|---|
| Established | 7 September 1922 |
| Ownership | 100% state ownership |
| Governor | Mārtiņš Kazāks |
| Central bank of | Latvia |
| Reserves | US$3.05 billion |
| Preceded by | State Savings and Credit Bank |
| Succeeded by | European Central Bank (2014)1 |
| Website | www.bank.lv |
| 1 The Bank of Latvia still exists, but many functions have been taken over by the European Central Bank. | |
The Bank of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Banka,) is the national central bank for Latvia within the Eurosystem. It was the Latvian central bank from 1922 to 2013, albeit with a long suspension between 1940 and 1992. It issued the Latvian lats (1922-1940), then a Latvian ruble (1992-1993) and second lats (1993-2013). The Bank of Latvia's administration is located in Riga.
In addition to its monetary role, the Bank of Latvia is also a financial supervisory authority. In that capacity, it increasingly implements policies set at the European Union level. It is the national competent authority for Latvia within European Banking Supervision. It is a voting member of the respective Boards of Supervisors of the European Banking Authority (EBA), European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). It is Latvia's designated National Resolution Authority and plenary session member of the Single Resolution Board (SRB). It provides the permanent single common representative for Latvia in the Supervisory composition of the General Board of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). It is also a member of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).