ECB wins court fight over Rimsevics’ ban

Bloomberg

The European Union’s highest court overturned Latvia’s suspension of central bank Governor Ilmars Rimsevics as part of a bribery probe that’s shaken the Baltic nation.
In a victory for the European Central Bank, the EU Court of Justice on Tuesday said Latvia last year illegally prohibited the ECB Governing Council member from performing his role as
central bank governor.
The judges ruled that Latvia had failed to establish that “the relieving of Mr. Rimsevics from office is based on the existence of sufficient indications that he has engaged in serious misconduct.”
Both Rimsevics, who is a ECB Governing Council member, and the Frankfurt-based central bank had challenged Latvia over the measures, which included suspension of duties in the central bank and restrictions on travel. The EU court decision can’t be appealed.
The Latvian central banker was met in February last year by police at the airport after returning from Spain, detained and questioned in a bribery probe. He was charged with accepting bribes of about 250,000 euros ($283,975) and a trip from a local lender, in exchange for help with regulatory issues.
Rimsevics has denied all wrongdoing and blamed a group of banks for the allegations and began giving testimony to Latvian prosecutors. His continued testimony has meant that prosecutors have not yet sent case to Latvian courts.
The ECB accused Latvia at an EU court hearing in September of “disregarding entirely” the constitutional independence of Rimsevics and to apply “the most restrictive” measure available, which effectively suspended the governor from all his main roles until the end of the criminal probes.
The central banker’s detention came amid a whirlwind of damaging information about Latvia and its banks in February 2018. Days before Rimsevics’s troubles, the US Treasury accused ABLV Bank AS of money laundering and proposed banning it from the American financial system, sparking its demise.