BOV, Malta Police to enhance financial crime awareness, customer protection
Three-year agreement to promote further joint initiatives such as awareness campaigns on ways to protect oneself from fraudsters and scammers
Bank of Valletta and the Malta Police Force have signed a memorandum of understanding, joining forces to raise awareness on financial crime and enhance protection for customers and society at large.
The MoU was signed by Kenneth Farrugia, CEO of Bank of Valletta, and Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà in the presence of Ryan Caruana, chief AFC officer at BOV, and Assistant Commissioner Fabian Fleri, who heads the Malta Police Financial Crime Investigations Department.
The primary objective of this three-year agreement is to enhance the national resilience against financial crime through joint initiatives, promote public education and awareness to reduce victimisation, facilitate and secure the timely exchange of intelligence, strengthen investigative capabilities through shared expertise and training, and improve customer protection mechanisms through collaborative innovation.
Speaking during the signing event, which took place at the Financial Crime Investigations Department, Farrugia explained that this agreement rubber-stamps the ongoing collaboration between BOV and the Malta Police Force over the years.
“Financial crime includes a wide spectrum of offences, ranging from financing of terrorism, bribery, corruption, scams and fraud. We have been working closely with the police to protect our customers and society at large from these serious offences by sharing information and working closely on ongoing investigations. With this partnership, we are going a step further by organising joint initiatives such as awareness campaigns and exploring ways to protect our society from the ever-changing tactics and trends of fraudsters and scammers.”
On his part, Police Commissioner Gafà highlighted the changing nature of criminality and the importance of strong partnerships in addressing emerging risks.
“Criminality is evolving rapidly, with financial crime increasingly operating in the digital space, where prevention and detection are significantly more complex. This shift demands that policing adapts beyond traditional approaches and works in close partnership with responsible private-sector stakeholders,” he said.
“This collaboration with Bank of Valletta reflects our commitment to improve our ability to detect, prevent and respond to emerging challenges proactively and effectively as outlined in our corporate strategy ‘Safer Communities, Smarter Policing’, placing prevention, intelligence, and shared responsibility at the heart of modern policing.”