Brussels, 17/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 17 July, the European Commission authorised support granted by Latvia for the transformation of the Latvian Mortgage and Land Bank (Latvijas Hipotçku un zemes banka, MLB) to be in line with EU state aid rules. In particular, the sale of MLB's commercial assets and its subsequent exit from the commercial banking market will minimise the distortions of competition brought about by the state support. Since 2009, MLB benefitted from significant public support measures, including recapitalisations, liquidity support and guarantees. The Commission temporarily approved those measures for reasons of financial stability, while investigating their compatibility with EU state aid rules for banks during the financial crisis (see IP/09/1742). In January 2012, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation regarding these measures (see IP/12/77). The Commission's investigation showed that MLB's market exit from commercial banking and transformation into a development bank meet the criteria of the Commission's communication on banking restructuring during the crisis. (LC/transl.fl)