A report from the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism, a unit of the Council of Europe (COA) known as Moneyval, is calling on the Maltese government to strengthen its measures to identify and curb the illicit transactions.
Moneyval said the level of investigations and prosecutions are not in keeping with Malta’s risk level and money laundering cases are not being effectively pursued due to limited human and financial resources.
Risk-based controls were also found to be inadequate, according to iGamingBusiness.com. Moneyval is concerned about low levels of reporting of suspicious transactions in Malta. In addition, it says punishment for non-compliance with the AML controls is not effective enough to deter criminals.
“Moneyval noted that supervisory authorities do not have adequate resources to conduct risk-based supervision, for the size, complexity and risk profile of the country’s private sector,” the report explained. “Sanctions for non-compliance with anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism requirements are not considered effective, proportionate and dissuasive.”
On the plus side, Moneyval said Malta has a comprehensive framework for international cooperation, which enables its authorities to provide assistance to other countries. Malta must now address the issues flagged in the Moneyval report, and has been invited to report on its progress in December 2020.
