The Anti-Money Laundering (AML) & Financial Crime Conference, which was held last week, was a resounding success with over 200 delegates participating in the event, which was co-organised by ARQ Group and the Malta Bankers’ Association (MBA).
The theme of the one-day conference was “The road to meaningful reform.” Significant focus was laid on the findings and actions resulting from MONEYVAL’s 5th round of evaluation of Malta as well as the need to restore Malta’s damaged reputation in this sector.
Significant discussion took place on the need for the country to take the bold steps to enhance the mechanisms in place to combat corruption, organised crime, money laundering and other serious financial crime.
Dr Manfred Galdes, ARQ Managing Partner, opened the conference. He said: “We need to ask ourselves whether our collective actions are just going to be driven by the desire to get international monitoring bodies off our backs, or whether the ultimate goal will be that of actually deterring criminals from approaching our financial system and of making sure that they are punished and the funds confiscated if they commit a crime.”
In his key note speech with theme “The banks, as guardians against financial crime and of Malta’s reputation”, Marcel Cassar, Chairman of the MBA highlighted that the focus of the conference was to assess the road to meaningful reform… “…as this conference needs to evaluate not only the status of remediation post-MONEYVAL and what still is to be done, but must openly address the damage and future threats to Malta as a financial centre, and therefore to our reputation as a jurisdiction,” he said.
The event was addressed also by the Minister of Finance Edward Scicluna. The conference focused on the latest developments in the fight against financial crime, in particular AML and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT). The event featured keynote contributions from the Vice-Chair of MONEYVAL, Richard Walker, amongst others. Another key speaker was Yehuda Shaffer, an international AML/ CFT expert.
The conference featured a number of panel discussions covering MONEYVAL’s 5th round of evaluation of Malta, correspondent banking relationships, regulatory updates, and the practical challenges being faced by Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession (DNFBPs).
The event was sponsored by AML Analytics, ComplyRadar and Infocredit Group.
