Latvia: outsourced accountants, auditors and tax consultants are AML 'obliged entities' — registration, internal controls, risk assessment and training

What changes

Latvia's AML/CFT law lists outsourced accountants (ārpakalpojuma grāmatveži), certified auditors, audit companies and tax consultants as 'obliged entities' (likuma subjekti) alongside banks and notaries. Obliged entities must notify their supervisory authority of compliance-responsible staff, maintain a written internal control system, carry out and periodically review a money-laundering/terrorism-financing risk assessment, and train staff to recognise and report suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FID).

Who is affected

Latvia-based outsourced accountants/bookkeepers, certified auditors, audit companies and tax consultants who provide services to clients under a written contract (not an employment contract) — explicitly listed in Art. 3(1)(3) of the law. The dataset has no flag that precisely captures 'accountant / AML obliged entity', so this entry is scoped broadly with sectors: ['services'] and no flags; ignore it unless you provide accounting, bookkeeping, audit or tax-advisory services to clients under contract.

Sizes: micro, small, medium, large · Sectors: Professional services

What to do

Notify VID (your supervisory and control institution) of the employee(s) responsible for NILLTPFN compliance within 30 days of starting to provide outsourced accounting/tax services, and again whenever that staffing changes (Art. 10(1)). Document a written internal control system covering client due diligence, ongoing monitoring and suspicious-transaction reporting (Art. 6-7), and review your money-laundering/terrorism-financing risk assessment at least once every 3 years (Art. 8(1)); separately review the internal control system's effectiveness at least once every 18 months (Art. 8(2)). Provide staff with regular AML/CFT training so they can recognise and escalate suspicious transactions (Art. 9), and be ready to file suspicious-transaction reports with the FID.

Penalty

VID, as supervisory authority, can impose administrative sanctions for violations, including fines and — for serious or repeated breaches — restrictions on the right to provide outsourced accounting services; exact fine amounts were not confirmed from a source fetched this session, so treat as high-severity by default.

Sources

• likumi.lv – Noziedzīgi iegūtu līdzekļu legalizācijas un terorisma un proliferācijas finansēšanas novēršanas likums (consolidated text) (likumi.lv)
• Valsts ieņēmumu dienests – Noziedzīgi iegūtu līdzekļu legalizācijas novēršana (www.vid.gov.lv)

Last verified 8 September 2026. Informational only, not legal advice.