FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS May 31, 2005 Statement of Under Secretary Levey Upon Conclusion Riga, LATVIA - Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, made the following statement upon the conclusion of meetings with senior Latvian officials: "Both the United States Government and the Latvian Government are committed to working together to safeguard the international financial system from abuse. My meetings with senior officials from the Prosecutor General's Office, the Financial and Capital Markets Commission, the Bank of Latvia, the Latvian State Police, the commercial banking sector and notably with Prime Minister Kalvitis were positive and productive. " "However, there is still important progress to be made. I encourage the Latvians to swiftly and credibly implement the new anti-money laundering law. I look forward to seeing significant results come to fruition as a result of both this legislation and the ongoing efforts of Latvian law enforcement and regulatory authorities. "The U.S. Treasury Department's recent designation of two Latvian banks as "primary money laundering concerns" reflects the importance to the U.S. Government of having the systems and oversight in place to keep corrupt funds from flowing through the Latvian, as well as the international, financial system. "The
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