€500,000 Fine For Maltese Subsidiary Of Swiss Firm

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If rumours are to be believed, Malta is making some form of headway in clearing its name off the FATF’s greylist, and those rumours will carry more weight following the FIAU’s €502,000 fining of the Maltese branch of Sendvalu, a Swiss money transfer company.

Several breaches of due diligence

Found guilty for money laundering breaches, AWS Malta, which is owned by AWS Switzerland, failed to collect adequate information on their clients. In reviewing a sample, the FIAU found that 84% of customer files did not display adequate business and risk profiles.

The FIAU also revealed that the company did not undertake due diligence measures even when circumstances suggested a high risk of money laundering. In one such case, it took Sendvalu asked for enhanced due diligence information from a Sri Lankan national three years after the country had been placed on the FATF’s high-risk jurisdictions. By then, over 200 transactions had taken place, and the customer stopped all transactions after being asked for EDD.

Suspicious Fry, Flanders, & Leonardo DiCaprio Meme Gif

AWS Malta is owned by AWS Switzerland, and its Maltese directors include Jean-Pierre Gauci-Maistre of Gauci-Maistre Xynou law firm, chief financial officer Steven Zammit Cutajar, and Mark Portelli, of Virtu Shipping and CEO of MIDI plc.

Proof of ongoing fight?

Though of course bigger fish remain to be fried, it is at least a sign of intent that the FIAU is looking to step up its fight against the plague that is money laundering and has been taking place in Malta. Is it a decisive blow to knock Malta off the greylisting? Absolutely not. But, it’s a small step in the right direction.

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