Latvian court judgment on ownership / control

18 August 2025

The Latvian Administrative District Court has dismissed a company’s application to be removed from the list of sanctioned entities maintained by the Latvian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). press release. See our Latvia sanctions page for details on Latvian sanctions law.

The Latvian FIU publishes a list of entities which it has determined are owned, held or controlled by a person designated on the EU sanctions list and are therefore subject to an asset freeze in Latvia. The FIU included the applicant’s name on this list of entities because 50% of its shares were owned by a person sanctioned by the EU. The company challenged the FIU’s decision to include it on the list, arguing that a 50% share did not mean that a sanctioned person owned or controlled the company. The court rejected the company’s claim. It said that a sanctioned person who owns a 50% share in a company controls that company because the 50% share allows the sanctioned person to influence company decisions and control the use of company funds under Latvian commercial law.