Minister reaffirms commitment to combat money laundering, terrorist financing

An awareness seminar for voluntary organisations was held at the Aula Magna, University of Malta. The seminar was organised by the National Coordinating Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism with the full support of the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Commissioner of Voluntary Organisations.

When addressing officials of voluntary organisations, Minister Edward Scicluna emphasised that the government is determined in its fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In his speech, Minister Scicluna referred to the newly established anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing mechanism, which has been set up and has been operating since April 2018.

The setting up of the National Coordinating Committee is just one of the initiatives being taken by the Government to ensure the security of the local economy. The Minister referred to the National Risk Assessment which was completed first in 2015 and was updated in 2017. This National Risk Assessment identified and assessed the threats and vulnerabilities related to issues of money laundering and terrorism financing. This assessment formed the basis of Malta's Anti-Money-Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Strategy which embraces a comprehensive list of actions to enhance the national anti-money laundering and the combat of terrorism framework which the government is taking to address risks. In this national strategy the National Coordinating Committee is identified as being the mechanism responsible for defining the overall strategy and overseeing the implementation of the actions listed in the strategy.

Minister Scicluna stressed that the aim of the National Coordinating Committee is to not only define an overall anti-money laundering and combat of financing of terrorism plan of action and for overseeing the implementation of this same strategy but to reach out to the various stakeholders for an effective coordinated setup in the national combat against money laundering and terrorism financing. This newly established mechanism is also an invaluable tool in helping prepare for and coordinate for international evaluations such as FSAP which have just finished their evaluation and MONEYVAL which will be making their next evaluation in November.

 

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