Satabank clients are still awaiting the release of their funds, a full nine months after they were frozen, the Malta Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) has complained. 

Reacting to news that the bank has been fined €3 million for anti-money laundering breaches, the GRTU said many of Satabank’s clients who had nothing to do with the regulatory issues had been left in limbo. 

Regulators handed over control of Satabank to EY (formerly Ernst and Young) over fears the bank was allowing itself to be used by criminals to launder their funds. 

Since the EY takeover in October, a controlled release of funds linked to low risk account holders has taken place. 

According to the GRTU, the bank’s clients have been left in the dark about the process and have not been given a timeline about when their funds will be returned. 

The chamber said some of these clients were suffering huge cash-flow issues and others had been forced to let employees go due to the strain on their finances. 

Others still could not pay for medical expenses and had lost out on growth opportunities. 

“Seeing that there is no clear line of communication between bank representatives and the clients, the GRTU will continue to act as a reference for many affected clients. 

“Although GRTU acknowledges that some of its members’ funds have been returned, GRTU continues its efforts to see that funds are returned to its members in the shortest possible time,” the chamber said. 

It also urged the authorities to avoid any unnecessary delays which continue to harm Malta’s reputation. 

Police and financial regulators have since been combing through suspicious transactions with potential links to fuel smuggling, drug trafficking and trade with sanctioned countries. 

Tens of billions of euros in transactions had passed through the Paceville bank during its four years of operation and investigators believe as much as half of these may have been “high risk and highly suspicious”. 

Prior to the bank gaining its licence in Malta, Satabank’s Bulgarian co-owner Christo Georgiev ran an e-money business in Luxembourg. 

The group the bank forms part of had voluntarily surrendered its electronic money institution licence issued by Luxembourg shortly after Satabank was given its licence in Malta.