MALTA’S FATF GREY LISTING
2. High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action (Black List), here the FATF identifies jurisdictions with significant strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT/CPF regimes and calls on all FATF members to apply enhanced due diligence, and, in the most serious cases, apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from the money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing risks emanating from the jurisdictions forming part of the Black List. On the 23rd of June 2021, the FATF placed Malta under increased monitoring as part of a process to ensure that it addressed specific remaining deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/ CFT) regime. This process is often referred to as having been grey listed. Jurisdictions which are grey listed by the FATF are considered to be non-reputable. A non-reputable jurisdiction is defined under Article 2(1) of the PMLFTR (Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism – Subsidiary Legislation 373.01), as follows: any jurisdiction having deficiencies in its national anti-money laundering and counter funding of terrorism regime or having inappropriate and ineffective measures for the prevention of money laundering and the funding of terrorism, taking into account any accreditation, declaration, public statement or report issued by an international organisation which lays down internationally accepted standards for the prevention of money laundering and for combating the funding of terrorism or which monitors adherence thereto, or is a jurisdiction identified by the European Commission in accordance with Article 9 of Directive(EU) 2015/849. 1 The three recommended actions which the FATF felt were not being addressed by Malta relate to the following matters: • The accuracy of available beneficial ownership information on Maltese Companies; • The sanctioning of companies and company gatekeepers for failings related to the obtaining of beneficial ownership information; and • The generation and use of financial intelligence in
investigating and prosecuting tax evasion and related money laundering. To be removed from the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring Malta had to address the identified deficiencies and essentially implement the FATF’s Action Plan. The Action Plan involved a number of reforms and improvements. In line with the aforementioned action plan, Malta made the following 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 Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit’s (Maltese government agency responsible for the collection, collation, processing, analysis and dissemination of information to combat money laundering and the funding of terrorism abbreviated to the ‘FIAU’) 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 FIAU; and 3. increasing the focus of the FIAU’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. Exactly one year later, in June 2022, after a significant process to address the said deficiencies which were identified by the FATF, Malta was successfully removed from the grey list. Effects of the grey-listing on the iGaming industry in Malta. Malta’s regulation of gaming was not specifically targeted and nothing actually changed regarding the strength of the regulated environment that Malta offers. However, despite
1 Article 2(1) of the PMLFTR (Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism – Subsidiary Legislation 373.01
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IMGL MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2023
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