Rietumu Is A Private Commercial Bank In Latvia, Established In 1992.
The Bank Specializes In Providing Financial Services To Businesses And Individuals. Rietumu Is One Of The Largest Private Banks In The Baltic Region And The Largest Local Capital Bank In Latvia. The Bank's Headquarters, Rietumu Capital Centre, Is Located In Riga.
Brief Overview
For Many Years, Rietumu Has Been One Of The Leading Banks In Latvia And It Is The Fifth Largest Bank In Latvia In Terms Of Assets.
Traditionally, An Important Part Of Rietumu's Banking Activities Is Related To Foreign Markets. However, Since 2018, The Bank Has Been Focusing On Operations In Latvia, Other Baltic Countries And The European Union.
In 2018, Latvia's Requirements For Client Threat And Risk Assessment Have Changed Significantly. Rietumu Has Decided To Terminate Its Relationship With High-risk Clients And To Change Its Business Model. The Latvian Minister Of Finance And Representatives Of The US Treasury Highly Appreciate The Bank's Efforts.
Currently, Rietumu's Main Activity Is To Provide Services To Companies, Including The Implementation Of Personal Loans And Investment Projects. The Bank Facilitates The Expansion Of Latvian And Baltic Companies Into New Markets, Finances Projects In The Industrial Sector, Commercial And Residential Real Estate, Collaborates With Fintech Companies, And Supports The Green Economy. The Bank Continues To Provide Services To The Wealthy, Including Wealth Management Services.
History
1992 - 1999
Establishment And Start Of Activities
Rietumu Bank Was Established In 1992 And Is Registered With The Corporate Registry Of The Republic Of Latvia.
In 1995 It Became The Fifth Latvian Bank In Terms Of Assets. In The Same Year It Began To Develop Its Network Of Regional Press Centres In Cities In The CIS And Baltic Regions. In 1996, Rietumu Bank Began Offering Various Trust Schemes To Its Clients, Which Later Played An Important Role In The Bank's Development Strategy. In 1997, Michael Bourke Became President Of Rietumu Bank, Having Previously Worked Within The Framework Of The Phare Consultancy Programme For The Governor Of The Bank Of Latvia. In 1998, The Bank Opened A Series Of New Branches And Continued To Develop Its Corporate Banking Business, And In 1999 Rietumu Bank Became The Leading Enterprise Services Provider In Latvia. In 1999, Leetumu Bank Began Accepting Deposits In Euros.
2000 - 2008
Years Of Growth
In 2001, Rietumu Bank Purchased 100% Of The Shares Of Saules Banka And Entered The Top Five Commercial Banks In Latvia. In Late 2001 And 2002, Rietumu Bank Issued New Exclusive Credit Cards Eurocard/MasterCard Platinum And VISA Platinum. In 2003, Corporate Lending Became One Of The Priority Areas Of The Bank. In 2004, The Bank Issued VISA Chip Cards And Fully Transferred To The Unified Account System Of The Member States Of The European Union - IBAN (International Bank Account Number). Rietumu Bank Acquired The Russian Brokerage Firm Eco Save And Established A New Investment Company, RB Investments.
In 2005, Dermot Desmond, An Irish Citizen, Purchased A 33% Stake. The Bank Began Construction Of A New Central Office, The Rietumu Capital Centre, Also Issued MasterCard And Maestro Chip Cards, And Provided Customers With A New Modern Platform For Trading Stocks In Foreign Exchange, The World Currency. In 2006, The Bank Received Syndicated Credit In The Amount Of 600,000 Euros Arranged By ERAB, As Well As Syndicated Commercial Credit In The Amount Of 200,000 Euros From More Than 110 Banks Worldwide. Aleksandrs Kalinovskis Became The Bank's President. In 2007, It Opened A Representative Office In Bucharest And Expanded The Accreditation Of Its Representative Office In Minsk. The Bank Has Been Granted A Syndicated Commercial Credit For A Total Of 1.20 Million Euros For A Period Of Three Years (19 Banks From All Over The World Are Among The Syndicated Members).
In 2008, The Bank Expanded Its Activities In The CIS Countries, Becoming A Co-owner Of The WestLeasing Group Company In Russia And Belarus, As Well As A Co-owner Of The Ощадна компан Brokerage Company In Ukraine. The Bank's Subsidiary RB Asset Management Began To Provide Asset Management Services: Private Investment Funds, International Investment Fund Portfolios And Structured Notes. The Bank's New Central Office, Rietumu Capital Centre, Opened.
2009 - 2017
Post-Crisis Development And 25th Anniversary
In 2009, Rietumu Bank Was The Only Latvian Bank That Was Profitable In The Context Of The Financial Crisis. Rietumu Bank Launched A New Customer Identification System, Rietumu ID, Extending Personal Management Services To All Customers, Offering A Variety Of Market Financing Options, Flexible Investment Opportunities, Purchase Of Gold Bars And Coins, Investment Products. The Logo And Company Style Of The Bank Changed.
In 2010, Rietumu Bank Offered Its Customers A Support Program For Obtaining A Temporary Residence Permit In Latvia, Which Offered Them The Opportunity To Move Within The Schengen Area. Aleksandr Pankov Became The President Of Rietumu Bank. Hong Kong Businessperson Balram Chainrai Became The Holder Of A 5% Stake In Rietumu Bank.
In 2011, Rietumu Bank Opened A Representative Office In Yerevan, The Capital Of Armenia, And Began To Provide Its Corporate Customers With A Full Range Of E-commerce Services, Namely, Internet Acquisition Services Based On Its European License. It Expanded Its Lending Territory In Russia And Other CIS Countries, And Provided Support To Customers Fundraising In Europe, And Began To Offer A New Service - Art Bank.
In 2012, Rietumu Bank Opened The Bank's Partner Representative Office In Shanghai. The Inaugural International E-commerce Conference, ECom21, Was Held In Riga Under The Auspices Of The World Bank And Attracted More Than 250 Market Professionals From Russia And Other CIS Countries, Europe And The United States.
In 2013, Rietumu Bank Launched A New Platinum-rated Credit Card, JÜrmala. In 2014, Rietumu Bank Implemented A Virtual ID System To Provide Simple And Secure Identification For Customers Who Work With The Bank Via Mobile Devices Using The Built-in Digipass For Mobile ©. The Bank Completed The Issuance Of Limited Preference Shares And Paid 130,000 Preference Shares.
In 2015, Rietumu Bank Produced A Special Smartphone App That Provides The Bank's Customers With Convenient Remote Access To Their Accounts, Creating A New Internet Banking Website IRietumu For Devices With The Android Platform (Internet Banking Website IRietumu Is Also Available For Apple Watch Users), Obtaining A Level 1 PCI-DSS Certificate, Proving The Maximum Security Of The Holder's Data.
In 2016, The Bank Provided An Opportunity To Automatically And Securely Access The Structured Data Of The Portfolio By Using The JSON API - Rietumu Broker Link. This Opportunity Includes Receiving Information About Positions, The Flow Of Financial Instruments On Accounts And Statements. Rietumu Asset Management (RAM) Has Launched New Investment Products, Including Portfolio Industry 4.0 And Anchor's Personal Bonds Portfolio Target Maturity Bonds.
In 2017, Rietumu Bank Celebrated The 25th Anniversary Of Its Activities. At The Same Time, The Bank Started Working With ZINSPILOT, Germany's Leading Deposit Placement Platform; Thus, Gaining Access To The Largest German Savings Market In Europe. Rietumu Bank Became The First Latvian Bank To Launch Its Own Project In The Field Of Fintech. In Addition, The Bank Started Working With The StartinLV Association, Which Unites Dozens Of Potential Latvian Startups.
2018
NEW BUSINESS AREAS
In Spring 2018, Latvia's Financial Sector Was Severely Shaken As The US Treasury Accused ABLV Bank Of Latvia Of Money Laundering. The Turmoil Was Exacerbated By Corruption Scandals At The Level Of The Financial Marekt Supervisory Regulatory Body. Due To This Instability, Latvia's Financial Marekt Regulatory Body And Legislators Adopted A Series Of Decisions That Significantly Restricted The Bank's Cooperation With Non-resident Customers, Especially High-risk Customers. At This Point, Rietumu Bank Decided To Significantly Change Its Business Model, Focusing Its Activities On Serving Latvian Customers As Well As Customers From Other Baltic And OECD Countries. As Part Of This Business Model Transformation, Rietumu Bank Terminated Its Cooperation With Almost 4,000 High-risk Clients. This Work Was Highly Regarded By The Latvian Regulators And Foreign Partners.
At This Point, The Management Of The Bank Also Changed, And The Responsibility For Implementing The New Business Model Was Assumed By Rolf Fuls, An Experienced Representative Of The Management Of Rietumu Bank.
The Main Area Of The Bank's Activities Has Now Become The Baltic And Other European Union Countries. Rietumu Bank Continues To Focus On Serving Corporate Clients And Wealthy Individuals. One Of The Focuses Of The New Strategy Is Commercial Lending, Which Has Already Brought Positive Results In A Short Period Of Time.
Rietumu Bank Has Been Included In The Top 101 Companies In Latvia - An Annual Study Of Corporate Market Capitalization Conducted By Financial Firm Prudentia In Collaboration With The Nasdaq Riga Stock Exchange.
Rietumu Bank Sponsored The Latvian National Team To The Ice Hockey World Championship, Which Reached The Quarter-finals.
Shareholders, Council And Board Of Directors
At The End Of 2017, The Main Shareholders Of Rietumu Bank Were Boswell International Consulting Limited (33.11%, Sole Shareholder Dermot Desmond); SIA Esterkin Family Investments (33.12%, Sole Shareholder Leonids Esterkin), SIA Suharenko Family Investments (17.34%, Sole Shareholder Arkady Suharenko). The Board Of Directors Of The Bank Includes Leonid Esterkin (chairperson), Arkady Sukhalenko, Brendan Murphy, Dermot Desmond And Valentin Bruger.
Since 2021, The Chairperson Of The Board Is Elena Buraya. Before That, She Led The Bank's Corporate Finance And Investment Direction As Well As Its Legal Functions And Managed The Rietumu Group Company. Jelena Buraja Is Listed In Forbes Magazine's Top 100 Latvian Business Ladies.
The Other Members Of Rietumu Bank's Board Are Ruslan Stecyuk (Vice-Chairman Of The Board), Mihail Birzgals And Vladlen Topchiyan.
