Malta Financial Services Authority Chief Officer Supervision, Christopher Buttigieg, underlined the entity’s drive to raise standards and strengthen Malta’s position as a “jurisdiction of choice for good business and serious players in the field of financial services.”

He was speaking during his welcome address as an MFSA organised webinar on the practical implications of money-laundering risks associated with trustees and company service providers, which brought together stakeholders from a spate of entities combatting financial crime in Malta. These included the National Coordinating Committee on Combating Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism (NCC), the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), and the Malta Business Registry (MBR).

Mr Buttigieg, in his speech, reminded participants of the MFSA Vision 2019, outlining the Authority’s journey towards higher standards in regulation and supervision, adding that the entity had come a long way in implementing a new organisational structure, investing heavily in capacity building and implementing a detailed development programme aimed at upskilling its employee. As a result, it has more than doubled onsite inspections and strengthened enforcement actions, Mr Buttigieg said.

The webinar included the contribution of the NCC Head, Helga Buttigieg Debono, who outlined the key results of the sectoral based risk assessment on legal entities and legal arrangements led by the NCC, underscoring their function in helping “the competent authorities to prioritise efforts and resources, as well as to better address the private sector through appropriate outreach techniques.”

On behalf of the MBR, Registrar Joseph Farrugia outlined the initiatives carried out by the Registry, with respect to the Moneyval recommendations. “We have established a Compliance Unit that is in charge of carrying out physical onsite inspections on companies in order to verify that the Beneficial Owner information submitted to the Registrar mirrors that held by the company itself.”

And, concluding, the MFSA Head of Conduct Supervision, Emily Benson, said that “compliance is not a burden but an investment in a more sustainable future. I truly believe that if it is run and regulated well, the Company Service Providers sector will have a great future. But we need to be in this together. We need you as a sector to understand the risks that you face, and work with us to mitigate them.”

Other speakers included Petra Camilleri and Alison Cortis from the MFSA; Clara Borg Bonaci and Carmela Loredana Umbro from the FIAU; and Geraldine Spiteri Lucas and Andrew Schembri from the MBR.