FATF makes initial determination that “Malta has substantially completed its action plan”

At the February 2022 Plenary the FATF made the initial determination that “Malta has substantially completed its action plan.”

In June 2021 Malta was placed on the FATF grey list – the list of the countries under increased monitoring by the FATF. In its February 2022 plenary the FATF  noted that Malta has made the following key reforms:

“(1) continuing to demonstrate that beneficial ownership information is accurate and that, where appropriate, effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions, commensurate with the ML/TF risks, are applied to legal persons if information provided is found to be inaccurate; and ensuring that effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions are applied to gatekeepers when they do not comply with their obligations to obtain accurate and up-to-date beneficial ownership information;

(2) enhancing the use of the FIU’s financial intelligence to support authorities pursuing criminal tax and related money laundering cases, including by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the Commissioner for Revenue and the FIU; and

(3) increasing the focus of the FIU’s analysis on these types of offences, to produce intelligence that helps Maltese law enforcement detect and investigate cases in line with Malta’s identified ML risks related to tax evasion.”

An on-site visit is envisaged so that the FATF may “verify that the implementation of Malta’s AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future.”

 

source: fatf-gafi.org