FATF Says Malta ‘Substantially’ Completed Action Plan To Get Off Grey List
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has just announced that Malta has substantially completed its action plan and is therefore closer to being removed off the grey list.
“In June 2021, Malta made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MONEYVAL to strengthen the effectiveness of its Anti Money Laundering and Countering (AML) and Terrorism Financing regime (CFT),” a statement released by the FATF reads.
“At its February 2022 Plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that Malta has substantially completed its action plan and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Malta’s AML/CFT reforms has begun,” it said.
“It is being sustained, and the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future.”
According to the FATF, 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.”
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.”
The FATF also said that it will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date.
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