Investment firms hit with €1.3m in penalties for failing anti-money laundering checks
The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit annual report for 2020 shows that the agency imposed €4.6 million in administrative penalties as it stepped up enforcement and supervision
4 May 2021, 4:31pm
by Kurt Sansone
Investment services firms were hit with €1.3 million in penalties following a supervisory examination by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit last year, shouldering the bulk of fines dished out by the agency.
Gaming operators were the second hardest hit sector with the FIAU imposing €791,917 in fines for anti-money laundering control breaches
The figures come from the FIAU annual report for 2020 that was tabled in parliament this afternoon by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana.
Malta-based online bank fined over â¬359K over money laundering breaches
Bank claims FIAU conclusions breached its constitutional rights
May 1, 2021 3:51 PM
A Malta-based online bank has been fined â¬359,339 for a series of anti money-laundering breaches concerning clients involved in passport sales, cryptocurrencies and with potential links to organised crime.
The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit published a statement on Friday announcing that it had issued an administrative penalty against Em@ney plc which is based in Sliema after it found a number of serious shortcomings following an onsite visit.
The financial watchdog noted that the company should have performed an enhanced due diligence exercise for those customers which it had rated as posing a higher risk and for which adverse media or criminal connections had been found during the examination.
FIAU slaps Malta-based online bank with €359,339 fine for AML breaches
[email protected] had previously obtained a prohibtory injunction to stop the publication by the FIAU of any statement in relation to the sanction and to defend its rights in front of a real and fair court.
1 May 2021, 9:53am
by Matthew Agius
A Malta-based online bank has filed a warrant of prohibitory injunction against the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit over a €359,339 fine for breaches of anti-money laundering laws concerning clients involved in passport sales, cryptocurrency and with potential links to organised crime.
A statement published on Friday by the FIAU states that it had issued an administrative penalty against [email protected] plc, based in Sliema, following an inspection which revealed a number of serious shortcomings.
LA VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta has passed the Moneyval assessment after it addressed previous shortcomings in its anti-money laundering regime. The anti-money laundering expert committee within the Council of Europe approved a final report on Malta in a vote.
In 2019, Maltàs anti-money laundering regime failed a review by Moneyval. It was subsequently given just over a year to address a series of shortcomings in its anti-money laundering efforts.
Maltàs financial laws and their enforcement have been scrutinized by the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism since the start of 2018.
Updated May 1 with Em@ney statement
A Malta-based online financial institution has been fined €359,339 for a series of anti-money laundering breaches concerning clients involved in passport sales, cryptocurrency and with potential links to organised crime.
The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit said on Friday that it had issued the administrative penalty against Sliema-based Em@ney plc, after an inspection revealed a number of serious shortcomings.
Some of the company s customers had previously been arrested for forgery, the FIAU said, while others had been linked and investigated for connections with organised crime.
Despite this, the firm had failed to perform adequate enhanced monitoring and checks.