FIAU Annual Report 2012

On the 15th July 2013, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) issued a Notice for the purpose of formally notifying all Financial Services Licence Holders of the recent publication of the Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) Annual Report for 2012, issued in terms of Article 42(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (Chapter 373, Laws of Malta).

The report gives a detailed account of the operations of the FIAU during the year under review, 2012, and highlights the most significant local and international developments and initiatives in the field of prevention of money laundering and combating financing of terrorism including, inter alia, the following:

• The issuance of the revised FATF Recommendations in February 2012.
• The conclusion and approval of the report on the fourth assessment visit to Malta conducted by a team from the Council of Europe MONEYVAL Committee between the 29th May and the 4th June 2011. The report was adopted at the 38th plenary meeting of MONEYVAL held in Strasbourg between the 5th and 9th March 2012 and shows that Malta is now compliant or largely compliant with all Recommendations and Special Recommendations and, moreover that Malta has not been rated as being non-compliant on any ground of its assessment.
• The completion and submission to the FIAU, for the first time, of the Annual Compliance Reports (ACRs), which ACRs facilitate the off-site compliance assessment exercise conducted by the FIAU and assists the FIAU in planning its on-site compliance examinations on a risk-sensitive basis.
• The setting up of the Compliance Monitoring Committee within the FIAU which has been tasked with the evaluation of the findings of on-site compliance examinations conducted by both the FIAU and by other supervisory authorities on its behalf, and with the assessment of ACRs.

The FIAU Annual Report contains useful information for subject persons under the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations, including various statistics for the year under review as well as information on typologies and may be accessed here.

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