Financial Crime World

Malta’s Battle Against Financial Crime: A Look into Investigation Procedures

Financial crime is a growing concern worldwide, and governments are taking steps to combat this menace. In Malta, the Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has identified financial crime compliance as a top priority for 2021.

Supervisory Priorities for 2021

The MFSA’s Supervisory Priorities for 2021 outline the themes on which the authority will focus its supervisory efforts throughout the year. These priorities include:

  • Governance and culture
  • Financial crime compliance
  • Retail investor protection
  • Cross-border operations
  • Cybersecurity
  • Financial soundness

Financial Crime Compliance

Financial crime can take many forms, including:

  • Money laundering
  • Terrorist financing
  • Insider dealing
  • Market abuse
  • Evasion of sanctions

The MFSA has established a Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) function to tackle these crimes. The FCC performs two key roles:

  • Acting as an agent of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) in conducting anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision of authorized entities
  • Collaborating with the Sanctions Monitoring Board to ensure compliance with global sanctions legislation

Detecting and Curbing Financial Crime

The MFSA has prioritized increased efficiency and effectiveness in detecting, reporting, and curbing financial crime. To achieve this, the authority has:

  • Established a central source of AML/CFT expertise
  • Created an FIAU contact point, allowing prudential and conduct supervisors to liaise with each other

Importance of Financial Crime Compliance

Financial crime compliance is essential for safeguarding the integrity, prosperity, innovation, and trust in Malta’s financial services sector. The MFSA has integrated AML/CFT into its supervisory work, providing input from an AML/CFT perspective to various sectoral functions.

Collaboration and Monitoring

The authority will continue to collaborate with the FIAU and monitor compliance of regulated persons with AML/CFT obligations. The FCC function will also issue periodic publications to update the industry on developments concerning AML/CFT and the current status of the AML regime within the industry.

For more information, visit the MFSA’s website at https://www.mfsa.mt/.