The restructuring of Parex banka has completed and the new bank Citadele banka has officially begun its activity, taking over part of Parex banka's assets. The Bank Citadele was registered in the Commercial register in June and received the banking license from the Financial and Capital Market Commission. With share capital LVL 103 million the bank was founded by the Privatization Agency. The EBRD entered in the shareholding structure of the bank in July, allowing the EBRD to purchase 25% and one voting share of the Bank.

 

 

 

There are positive trends evidencing that Nordea could end the year with profit. Valdis Siksnis, Branch Manager of Nordea Latvia said: „The overall economic situation is getting more stable what is also reflected by the operating results of banks. The number of overdue loan payments is reducing and, as compared to the previous quarter, the accumulations for bad loans in the 2nd quarter have reduced by 36% by reaching 9.3 million LVL. Although we have suffered losses, the operational profit indicators have considerably improved.” 

 

 

Starting July 1st 2010, Enrique Garcia has been appointed Country Manager of CEMEX in Latvia in substitution of Jose Luis Seijo Gonzalez, who headed the business unit for the past two years.  With over 18 years of experience in CEMEX, Mr. Garcia previously acted as Country Manager for the business unit in Guatemala. He holds a Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School, and a Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the I.T.E.S.M. Campus Monterrey.
 

 

The total value of government debt securities auctions organized by the stock exchange amounts to USD 4 billion since 2005, when NASDAQ OMX Riga was selected by the Latvian government as the organizer of primary placement auctions for treasury bills and bonds. Both domestic and global investors are eligible to participate in the auctions, which are run on the latest generation trading system. Settlement is provided by the Latvian Central Depository, a NASDAQ OMX Riga subsidiary.

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Nordea Bank, the general sponsor of the Latvian Football Federation and the National Team, has become the general sponsor of television broadcasts of the FIFA Football World Cup Final. This year the World Football Championship will take place from June 11 till July 11 in the Republic of South Africa, and live broadcasts will be provided by LTV7. Besides, during this time on one of the most popular Latvian sports portals www.sportacentrs.com the Nordea predictor game will take place where both the experts and any of the Latvian sports fans will be able to predict the winners of the championship and get valuable prizes from Nordea and the Latvian Football Federation. This sports event gathers 32 the most powerful football teams of the world. In Latvia 700 thousand people watch the broadcasts of the tour. With the support of Nordea Bank live translations of the FIFA World Cup Final will be provided by LTV7.

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LAWIN also this year is the only law firm from the Baltic States shortlisted for The Lawyer’s European Awards 2010 in the category "Scandinavia & The Baltic States". Many transactions where LAWIN professionals have been recently involved, are the most innovative, complex and significant deals in the region. The Lawyer’s UK awards have been the industry’s benchmark of quality for more than a decade. Last year, it was the first time when the weekly magazine decided to give European awards for the best law firms in continental Europe. LAWIN was the only legal service provider from the Baltic States shortlisted in the category "Scandinavia & the Baltic States" and, in November 2009, recognized as the category winner. A full listing of the shortlisted entries per category is available here: http://www.thelawyer.com/1004509.article. The winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony, taking place on September 23 in Berlin.

 

 

 

10 Reval Hotels owned by the Norwegian company Linstow have joined The Rezidor Group’s portfolio. 10 Reval Hotels in the Baltics have been rebranded as either Radisson Blu or Park Inn from June 2010. The Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the fastest growing hotel companies worldwide, has now more than 400 hotels in operation and under development in 62 countries. The agreement between Rezidor and Linstow covers the following properties in Latvia:

 

 

The Skrivanek Baltic Translation Agency and Language School are moving and from 31 May, 2010, will be located at the new office at Dzirnavu Street 57a, 3rd floor (entrance on Baznīcas Street). A pay car park will be available for clients. For the convenience of Skrivanek Baltic clients, the Skrivanek Baltic Client Service Centre at Brīvības Street 40 will remain open through the month of June!
 

 

 

Cisco, the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, reported its third quarter results for the period ended May 1, 2010. Cisco reported third quarter net sales of $10.4 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.2 billion or $0.37 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $2.5 billion or $0.42 per share.

 

 

 

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® announced the introduction of the NASDAQ OMX® CEA® Smartphone IndexSM (NASDAQ:QFON) on April 19, 2010, a new benchmark for the telecommunications sector focused on wireless, mobile devices with advanced communications functionality. The NASDAQ OMX® CEA® Smartphone Index is a modified market-capitalization index and includes companies that are primarily involved in the building, design and distribution of handsets, hardware, software, and mobile networks associated with the development, sale and usage of smartphones.

 

The NASDAQ OMX® CEA® Smartphone Index is currently comprised of 84 companies that are screened by the Consumer Electronics Association, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM). To view all the the companies in the NASDAQ OMX® CEA® Smartphone Index, visit our website www.nasdaqomx.com/indexes.

 

 

Nordea Bank Latvia Branch has announced its plans to grant 100 million lats in housing loans in 2010. This manifests the previous pragmatic activity of the Bank in crediting of the housing market and the readiness to play an active and responsible role also in the future. In Nordea Bank, housing loans are available also at present to those clients who can afford and are willing to improve their living conditions.

Under the influence of economic recession competitiveness in the credit market has decreased, however Nordea's crediting policy has remained unchanged throughout the time. Also in 2009 Nordea Bank was in the leading position in housing market crediting by granting 60 million lats to more than a thousand of Latvian households.

A study initiated by NASDAQ OMX Riga identifies the relationship between the movements of OMX Riga, a price index of the companies listed on the Latvian equity market, and the Latvian GDP developments two quarters later. Leading indicators such as equity indices and sentiment indices are commonly used in the US and other economies with developed capital markets; however, up to now it was not known whether this correlation holds true for the Latvian market. This is the first-ever research on the applicability of a stock market index in forecasting economic growth in the Baltics. 

 

Daiga Auzina-Melalksne, NASDAQ OMX Riga Chairman of the Management Board, points out: „A high-quality stock exchange index is an important indicator for international investors while making their decisions about investing in a market. This is why it is paramount to further develop the Latvian capital market and equity index, as well as increase the number of listed and index companies to include telecommunications, transport, energy and other sectors."

 

The World Travel Awards has been described by the Wall Street Journal as the Oscar’s of the international travel industry. This keynote event brings together hundreds of senior management and decision makers from Europe’s travel and tourism industry. It serves to reward organizations and individuals who have gone the extra mile to improve customer experience in the past 12 months.

“We are very proud of this accolade and recognition for Grand Palace Hotel”, says Bernhard Loew, Regional Director of the Schlössle Hotel Group and General Manager of the Hotel Grand Palace. “Our hotel is well-known and has a reputation for excellent service and comfort and I am really delighted that we have once again been recognized as the regional winners in Latvia for the world’s very best hotels.”