The mass media have recently reported news of the largest fine in Latvia to date (EUR 150,000) being levied on an e-commerce company for breaches involving failure to comply with requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Considering the company’s circumstances, as cited by the National Data Office in its decision, this article explores requirements that must be met by any company processing personal data on its website to steer clear of the fine prescribed by the GDPR.

The topic continued from MindLink.lv news 24.07.2020. Based on EU and Latvian legislation, in 2019 the Financial Intelligence Unit drew up guidelines, describing methods for identifying politically exposed persons (“PEPs”).

Growing companies tend to see an increase in the amount of documentation and financial accounting data they generate. While the concept of paperless accounting is improved by developers of technology solutions and by digital start-ups, it is implemented by each company individually to make its accounting more straightforward and efficient, allowing its stakeholders to handle its financial accounting data with ease.

Although the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism and Proliferation Financing (“AML/CTPF”) Act has been in force for more than ten years, some of the entities governed by the Act still find it difficult to identify the status of a “politically exposed person.”

Given the impact of Covid-19 on many companies, on 14 July the Cabinet of Ministers adopted regulations to allocate EUR 19.2 million in aid to companies in the tourism industry and EUR 51 million in aid to exporters whose financial position has significantly deteriorated as a result of Covid-19. The new rules will come into force on the effective date of the European Commission’s decision on the compatibility of business aid with the EU internal market. This aid will be administered by the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, awarding it within the available finance allocation and by reference to the sequence in which aid requests are submitted. The aid will take the form of a grant aimed at helping companies pay wages and salaries.

Although the global economy is undergoing significant transformation as a result of Covid-19, capital keeps moving across borders and investors are still interested in investing. In these uncertain times, investors are particularly keen to maximise the diversification of their investments in order to mitigate the consequences of the financial crisis.

This article completes what we wrote last week.

This article picks up where we left off last week.

The standard transfer pricing (“TP”) documentation requirements mainly apply to Latvian companies that belong to a multinational group and enter into transactions with foreign related companies within the group.

Although Latvia is a European leader in P2P crediting, the fintech industry has also suffered from the Covid-19 crisis. According to financial blogger Kristaps Mors, four Latvian online platforms have closed down or stopped paying money in recent months. He says if this tendency continues, Latvia might become famous as a fraud centre of this industry. We assume that these signals have reached the State Revenue Service and the National Data Office, who are carefully monitoring the business conducted in this industry to ensure that fintechs comply with statutory requirements.

This article finishes off what we posted last week.

What is it that differentiates a temporary residence permit from an EU Blue Card? While both documents allow a foreign national to spend a certain period in Latvia, there are essential differences that need to be considered when choosing either of them. This article explores five key differences between the temporary residence permit and the EU Blue Card.

The VAT treatment in the financial and insurance (“F&I”) sector prescribed by Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, which exempts F&I services without recovery of input tax on goods and services acquired for supplying those services, remains unchanged since 1977. Irrecoverable input tax causes extra cost to F&I players and their customers as well. Our experience suggests that the VAT treatment in the financial sector has been suffering from legal uncertainty and high administrative costs incurred in applying the VAT rules. The outdated definitions of services make it difficult for fintech companies to figure out how to claim an exemption. And there are no instruments to reduce the burden of irrecoverable input tax. This article explores whether the F&I sector is in for change.