A Bill to transpose the EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive was described as a “waste of time” by Opposition MP Mario de Marco in the wake of government’s handling of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.
“I expected the Finance Minister to outline why Maltese authorities were failing to take action against high-profile cases mentioned in FIAU [government’s anti-money laundering agency] reports like Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri,” he remarked.
Dr De Marco was speaking in Parliament on Monday evening during a debate on a series of amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which are meant to transpose the EU directive.
While welcoming the good intentions behind this Bill, the MP said that in his opening address Finance Minister Edward Scicluna had failed to outline the manner in which the government would be addressing the serious shortcomings flagged by Moneyval - a Council of Europe body which reviewed Malta’s anti-money laundering regime.
He noted that despite the Minister’s pledges that most of these shortcomings would have been addressed by the time that the final version of the report would be issued last July, this had not been the case.
Quoting from the report, Dr Demarco said that the lack of enforcement by Maltese authorities had prompted concerns from Moneyval that this was fuelling a perception of a “culture of impunity”.
He also expressed concern that independent watchdogs supposedly intended to keep government under scrutiny were taken over, prompting concerns not only from Moneyval, but also the Venice Commission and the Group of States Against Corruption (Greco).
The PN MP called on the Finance Minister to ensure that whoever was harming Malta’s reputation would be sacked with immediate effect, in order to convey a strong message that laws were being enforced.
Dr De Marco noted that government’s poor track record in the fight against money laundering was epitomised in the failure of the police force to follow-up the FIAU reports on suspected money laundering activities by Mr Schembri and Dr Mizzi
“The problem in this country are not the laws, but the lack of appetite of institutions to implement them,” he said.
The PN MP called on the Finance Minister to ensure that whoever was harming Malta’s reputation would be sacked with immediate effect, in order to convey a strong message that laws were being enforced.
Dr De Marco said the 10-page Bill was not completely faithful to the 45-page directive, saying not all of the provisions were being implemented at this stage. The Finance Minister interjected saying the government was planning to publish a series of legal notices to complement the directive’s transposition.
Government stepping up fight against money laundering
In his opening address, the Finance Minister outlined the various measures taken in recent months in the fight against money laundering. He noted that the government was beefing up the FIAU and was in the process of setting up a Financial Organised Crime Agency which would work in collaboration with the Economic Crimes Unit of the Police Force.
Prof. Scicluna also pointed out that the Malta Gaming Authority had suspended four licences, cancelled eight, and imposed 139 administrative fines over regulatory breaches. This contradicts the impression being given in certain quarters that institutions were turning a blind eye to abuses, the minister said.
Other measures mentioned by Prof. Scicluna were the setting up of new registers listing the beneficiaries of companies and trusts.
He said that under this Bill there would be additional safeguards and obligations against money laundering including for emerging sectors like crypto currencies.
Prof. Scicluna added that the government was also stepping up its fight with other measures like capping cash transactions at €10,000 in line with the announcement made in the 2020 Budget.