Located in Northern Europe, Latvia is one of the Baltic States and a member of the European Union since 2004. In 2014 Latvia adopted Euro as its official currency.
Latvia is a developed country with high-income economy.Main industries of Latvian economy are processed foods and wood products, textiles, processed metals, pharmaceuticals, railroad cars, and synthetic fibers.
Latvia signed 57 double taxation agreements.
Latvia signed the automatic information exchange agreement on 29 October 2014 and committed to start the automatic information exchange in September 2017.
Latvia has FATCA agreement with the U.S. in effect since 27 June 2014 (Intergovernmental Agreement Model 1).
Latvia banking and financial system has been developing rapidly since 1991when Latvia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.Latvian banking sector is relatively small, highly concentrated,with high share of foreign capital. Most of the foreign-controlled banks are originated from Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden); most of the domestic banks are privately owned. The majority of Latvian banks operate as universal banks, however there are also specialized banks, focused solely on wealth management or corporate banking.
