The importance of legislation for further development of the fintech sphere in Latvia was emphasised. In particular, this was stressed by Dina Buse, Deputy Head of the Financial Sector Management Department of the Ministry of Finance, who took part in the discussion. She noted that they are currently developing the legal framework in order to make it consistent with the types of platforms that already function in Latvia and will continue functioning in the near future, as there is no common regulation for the platforms at the European Union level.
“We are carefully monitoring new products that appear in this area; loan-based crowdfunding platform model (lending based crowdfunding) is the most common in Latvia, it is used for new platforms, such as the well-known TWINO and Mintos. In Latvia we try to adjust our legal framework for the innovations that appear. We see potential in the fintech sphere”, the representative of the Ministry of Finance said during the discussion panel.
Lauris Liepa, partner of the Cobalt project, said a word in the meeting and emphasised the importance of further improvement of the legal framework to ensure further progress in the fintech sphere. In his report “Legal framework for alternative financial models” aspects such as the legal regulation for start-ups, peculiarities of awarding contracts, credit financing issues and other relevant topics have been highlighted.
The representative of the Latvian Startup Association (former Minister for Economics of Latvia) Daniel Pavluts moderated the panel discussion. The enlightening discussion was attended by: Martins Berzins (Monea), Lauris Liepa, Martins Schulte (Mintos), Dina Buse; members of the Board of Rietumu Renat Lokomet and Eugene Dugaev also joined them.
“Cooperation between Rietumu and TechHub Riga is developing successfully; we held the second international competition for innovative projects and start-ups not so long ago. Our club events, held together with TechHub, are a great opportunity for investors and specialists to share their experience and views on new technologies that could affect the established principles of financial service by supplementing and developing them. We are sure that Latvia can be a good platform both for the launch of a new business project and for its further comprehensive development. But to realise these opportunities, an environment that fosters the inflow of venture capital has to be formed both at the state and municipal level”, - believes Renat Lokomet, member of the Board of Rietumu.
Rietumu FinTech Club is a platform where project managers and specialists in the fintech sphere from Latvia and the Baltic countries share their knowledge and experience with other representatives of innovative business. The success of the last two meetings shows that this sphere is very promising for entrepreneurs-beginners, according to the organisers. Events in this format are planned to be held in the future as well.
TechHub Riga is Latvia's largest community for technology and IT start-ups that creates jobs and contributes to young entrepreneurs gaining knowledge. More than 30 start-ups are now participating in TechHub Riga; startups such as infogr.am, Funderful, Fabula, Froont, Sellfy, and MaxTraffic can be mentioned among its members and graduates. In addition, TechHub Riga regularly conducts various business and technology events, for example, monthly meetings, TechHub academies and an annual TechChill Baltics conference. Lattelecom is the strategic partner of TechHub Riga.
The forum participants were representatives of government entities, diplomats, owners and top managers of big enterprises from both countries.