As per the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit’s latest notice the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations (“PMLFTR”) S.L. 373.01, have been amended, in the greater part so as to introduce the recommendations made by the MONEYVAL assessors during the 5th Round Mutual Evaluation of Malta. Through these amendments, the timeframe for the submission of suspicious transaction reports (“STRs”) has been revised and the previous 5 working-day submission period has been replaced by an obligation to make prompt submissions of STRs to the FIAU.
Moreover, the amendments have now made it clear that the obligation to submit an STR subsists also where there is ‘just’ an attempt to carry out a transaction or activity, as long as the subject person knows, suspects or otherwise has reasonable grounds to suspect that it is related to proceeds of crime or funding of terrorism.
With the amendments to Regulation 21, the FIAU is now empowered to impose administrative sanctions on individuals who have a senior executive managerial roles, the MLRO and other officers responsible for AML/CFT compliance within a subject person and who are found to be responsible for AML/CFT breaches committed by that subject person. To this effect, the FIAU will be able to impose administrative penalties of not less than Euro 1,000 but not more than Euro 250,000 on these individuals if they are found to have caused or contributed to the breach.
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