Parliament Approves New Head of Latvian Banking Regulator
By admin at 18 January, 2012, 10:49 am
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On January 12, the Latvian parliament approved Kristaps Zakulis as the new head of the Latvian banking regulator, the Finance and Capital Market Commission (FKTK), the Baltic News Service reported.
According to the Riga-based newswire, the decision was made with 73 votes to three, with 17 abstentions.
BNS reported that Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis from ruling centrist Zatlers Reform Party (ZRP) voiced surprise about why the vote had to be rushed and could not wait until next week, when the faction will have formulated its opinion about the candidate. “It is surprising why such an important issue has to be made in such a rush,” he was quoted as saying.
Nevertheless, he said that ZRP faction tends to support Zakulis in the position and called on colleagues to vote on his approval, but pay more attention to discussions in the future.
According to BNS, parliament budget and finance committee chairman Janis Reirs said that there had been enough time to assess the candidate for the head of FKTK. Reirs underscored that FKTK has to solve important matters and needs a head immediately.
Zakulis told BNS that one of his first tasks in the new office would be studying the case of Latvijas Krajbanka, which had collapsed at the end of last year. “I am going to review all aspects of the case, all measures that have been taken,” he was quoted as saying.
In February the FKTK will have to look for a new council member to replace Janis Placis, who tendered his resignation in late November last year, Zakulis said, adding that at first the watchdog will look for suitable candidates to the post among its current staff.
The new FKTK head said that the communication mechanism was another subject that he intended to deal with in the new office, BNS reported. He plans to study the existing communication structure and procedures, Zakulis said.
According to BNS, Finance Minister Andris Vilks and Bank of Latvia Governor Ilmars Rimevičs have proposed Zakulis as the new FKTK head to replace Irena Krumane, whose resignation was accepted by the parliament on December 8, 2011.
The newswire reported that Zakulis currently heads the Security Department at the Latvian electronic services provider Lattelecom. He has a Bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master’s degree in business management, and has extensive knowledge about the finance sector. He also has experience in cooperation in with the national security and law enforcement agencies, a qualification of a legal expert and experience in prevention of money laundering, BNS reported.
In 1995-2000 Zakulis worked in the Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), and in 2000-09 he worked as the head of the security department in Latvia’s Swedbank, said the Finance Ministry.
BNS also reported that previous FKTK head Irena Krumane tendered her resignation to the parliament on November 28, 2011, following the collapse of Latvijas Krajbanka and the parliament accepted her resignation on December 8.
FKTK is responsible for supervision of banks, credit unions, insurance companies, insurance brokers, players of the financial instruments market, and private pension funds in Latvia.
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