The upcoming edition of The Boardroom will see presenter and business writer Jo Caruana discuss the aftermath and the road ahead for Malta after its shock grey listing in the summer of 2021 with leaders within the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU).

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit is the national central agency in Malta that is responsible for the collection, collation, processing, analysis and dissemination of information to combat money laundering and the funding of terrorism, and is therefore among the best placed to shed light on the assessment procedures since Malta’s inclusion on the grey list, and what we can expect from the latest site visit carried out by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) officials.  

Airing live on Tuesday morning at 11.30am via WhosWho.mt’s Facebook page, this latest edition of The Boardroom invites the FIAU’s Head of Strategy, Policy and Quality Assurance, Alexander Mangion, Head of Supervision, Claudia Callus, and Head of Intelligence Analysis, Ruth Aisthorpe Gauci.

They will be explaining how the decision to grey list Malta came in the first place, the impacts that have been felt so far, the work carried out prior to the FATF site visit in April, and what will come next.

The trio will also delve into what the future holds at the FIAU, which has seen its resources and capacity increase greatly over the last years as Malta beefs up its approach to the fight against money laundering.

Tuesday’s guests

(Left to right) Alexander Mangion, Claudia Callus and Ruth Aisthorpe Gauci

Alexander Mangion – Head - Strategy, Policy and Quality Assurance

Alexander Mangion is a lawyer by profession who joined the FIAU in 2012 and led its Legal and International Relations Section for many years. Alex was also involved in various international fora and projects of AML/CFT relevance, including the drafting of the EU’s 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive throughout Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, and was also directly involved in various MONEYVAL/FATF evaluation processes of Malta since 2014. He is currently head of the Strategy, Policy and Quality Assurance Section responsible for providing strategic direction and seeking ways to improve the FIAU’s processes and procedures. Prior to joining the FIAU, Alex was employed for a number of years with a local company service provider.

Claudia Callus - Head – Supervision

Claudia Callus joined the FIAU as in 2019. Hailing from the private sector, she brought with her invaluable experience in ML/FT risks and controls across the private sector. In her role, Claudia is responsible for leading and overseeing the supervision function of the FIAU, including co-ordinating the monitoring of AML/CFT compliance of subject persons across all sectors and guiding subject persons in the implementation of remedial action plans to address gaps in their AML/CFT compliance framework.

Ruth Aisthorpe Gauci - Head – Intelligence Analysis

Ruth Aisthorpe Gauci joined the FIAU in 2015 from the private financial sector.  Her experience has helped to spearhead her team as she is responsible for overseeing the FIAU’s analytical function, as well as its co-operation with domestic authorities and foreign counterparts on combating money laundering and the funding of terrorism.