Malta Financial Services Centre Defends Money Laundering Rules

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

15 October 2001

Dr Anton Bartolo, Director of International Business and Registrar of Companies at the Malta Financial Services Centre (MFSC) has defended the anti-money laundering precautions already in place on the island, and dismissed fears that large amounts of money laundering activity have taken place in Malta.

Speaking to the Malta Business Weekly, Dr Bartolo, who joined the MFSC in 1994 and occupies the additional role of money laundering reporting officer, responded to acusations that there was a lack of interaction between the three regulatory bodies designed to monitor the financial sector; namely the MFSC, the Central Bank, and the Malta Stock Exchange.

'In fact interaction between the parties concerned happens regularly,' he explained. 'But so far it is the police who receive all the reports and therefore they have the wider picture. Moreover the police conduct money laundering investigations on their own initiative and also upon the request of foreign authorities.'

However, Dr Bartolo admitted that the government had recognised the need for a more consolidated approach of recent years, hence the planned Financial Intelligence Unit which will act as a one-stop information shop, and will be empowered to receive suspicious transaction reports, analyse data, and maintain a database of information to assist with money laundering or tax evasion investigations. The plans for the FIU are still in draft legislation form, but have been approved by the Cabinet, and are awaiting parliamentary approval.

Dr Bartolo doesn't believe that there is much danger that Malta has been used extensively for money laundering purposes in the past: 'Large funds movements would stick out like a sore thumb here,' he told the MBW. 'Having said that, we are acutely aware of the ever-increasing difficulty in detecting this crime, and are consistently on the alert for any indications of it.'

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