Latvia

2,380 insolvency cases against individuals and legal entities were launched in Latvia in 2013, 125 cases more than in 2012 and 723 cases more than in 2011, according to the Register of Enterprises' Lursoft data, cites LETA/Nozare.lv. Nevertheless, the number of insolvency cases in 2013 did not reach the record-high figure of 2010, when 2,814 insolvency cases were opened. The number of legal protection processes and extra-judicial legal protection processes also rose in 2013.

Latvia’s leaders and the European Union have hailed the Baltic state’s adoption of the euro, amid widespread public fears over possible price rises and the future of the single currency, the Irish Times reported. As fireworks erupted over Latvia’s capital Riga to mark the start of 2014, a new €10 note was pulled from a bank machine by acting prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who has been praised by the EU for sticking to painful austerity that restored Latvia to growth after a crippling recession.

The Liepaja Court has a launched insolvency process against the financially-troubled metallurgical company Liepajas Metalurgs, reports LETA. The court has decided to halt the companies legal protection process and launch an insolvency process against it, The Baltic Times reported. Liepajas Metalurgs legal protection administrator, Haralds Velmers has been appointed the company's insolvency administrator. Velmers' insolvency petition was submitted to the court on Nov. 4.

In an interview on Wednesday morning's edition of the Latvijas Neatkariga televizija (LNT) news program "900 Seconds", Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) said that the insolvency of financially troubled metallurgical company Liepajas metalurgs cannot be ruled out, informs LETA/Nozare.lv., The Baltic Course reported.

Eurozone-bound Latvia is scrambling to defend the reputation of its banking sector amid allegations it is becoming an easy access tax haven, and even a money laundering hub, France 24 reported on an Agence France-Presse story. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has flatly denied that the ex-Soviet Baltic state has the makings of an offshore paradise along the lines of troubled Cyprus, with its hefty Russian deposits.

Small Baltic state Latvia decided on Monday to apply to join the euro zone next year, a sign of the faith in the currency which still exists in eastern Europe after three years which have threatened the project, Reuters reported. Latvia pegged its currency to the euro after joining the European Union in 2004. It and Lithuania, which pegged in 2002, stuck with the links through two years of turmoil after 2008 which saw their economies shrink by up to a fifth.

More than 2,200 insolvency cases were opened in Latvia in 2012, representing a 30 percent increase over the 1,724 insolvency cases that were launched in 2011, according to Baltic-Course.com yesterday. Of the 2012 total, 61 percent, or 1,365 insolvency cases, were opened against private individuals and 39 percent, or 873, were launched against legal entities. In 2011, 845 private individuals and 879 legal entities were declared insolvent. Read more.

Latvia is undeterred by the euro zone's sovereign-debt crisis and intends to adopt the common currency in a little over a year, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said, The Wall Street Journal reported. The currency's future was thrown into question after Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to take international bailouts to keep their economies afloat. That sparked the crisis and the 17-nation euro zone economy is expected to contract 0.3% this year according to the European Commission.

Latvia's banking regulator said on Thursday it had filed bankruptcy papers on midsize lender Latvijas Krajbanka, the Baltic nation's oldest bank, adding that it is keeping a close eye on several other banks, Reuters reported. "The Financial and Capital Market Commission today submitted to the Riga district court an application about Latvijas Krajbanka's insolvency," the commission said in a statement on its Web site. Latvia's late 2008 intervention over Parex bank, its second-biggest lender, forced the country to take a bailout from the International Monetary Fund and European Union.

Government officials are working on a proposed bankruptcy law designed to lower costs for businesses seeking to raise capital for start-ups or for expanding in the UAE, legal experts say, The National reported. Observers following developments generally agree the country's economy would benefit from more entrepreneurial risk-taking and a boost to the number of new businesses. But some also say it would help to lower the cost of funds needed to launch or grow a company.