Latvia develops fintech policies to support startup ecosystem

Latvia has announced plans to develop two national policies to support the startup ecosystem; a national startup support policy, as well as a dedicated fintech strategy to support the rapidly-growing vertical.

The country is named one of the most startup-friendly countries in the world by Index Ventures due to existing supportive legal environments, and the addition of these two policies is expected to strengthen its position. A focus is also placed on supporting the fintech sector specifically.

The EU’s fastest-growing startup is a fintech from Latvia, and the country is home to other major European fintech companies, such as Mintos, Twino, Nordigen, LendSecured, and others.

A workgroup has been established to develop the fintech strategy, to identify and reduce any barriers to the industry’s startup growth. This stance is shared by the Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia, which has already established two support instruments for fintech.

Latvian fintech strategy is under development by a workgroup made up of the Ministry of Finance, the Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia, fintech industry representatives, banks, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), and various professional industry associations.

“The development of the fintech sector is a priority for the Financial and Capital Market Commission. The development of financial solutions improves our client experience and facilitates the entrance of new products into the market. We are ready to perfect support mechanisms and promote the development of the innovation ecosystem at a state level while reducing obstacles faced by fintech and the innovation environment, ”says Marine Krasovska, Director of the Financial and Capital Market Commission Innovation Department.

Tarass Leočko, Senior Investment Advisor at the LIAA Investment Promotion Division, has reiterated their commitment, saying:

“Latvia is ready to excel as the innovation hub, where to test and scale up the latest fintech solutions. All local stakeholders are on a mission to improve the legal framework and develop the necessary infrastructure to accelerate the ongoing development”.

Source: fintechbaltic.com