Tag: James Grech

The Maltese-registered Novum Bank was fined €89,156 by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) in August 2022, following an onsite compliance review that was carried out in 2019. It is unknown why FIAU waited more than three years to dish out the fine. The Malta-based bank owned by the Dutch billionaire Marcel Boekhoorn has been fined by FIAU for shortcomings in its efforts to detect potential money laundering. Novum Bank was ordered to tighten up its checks on clients.

The Maltese regualator MGA has been hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons during the past years. Following resignations, including that of Heathcliff Farrugia and Anton Axiaq, both being prosecuted for alleged serious crimes, the Chief Internal Auditor of MGA, James Grech resigned for unknown reasons. The regulator did not make any announcement of the departure. James Grech was enrolled within MGA during the days when disgraced Joseph Cuschieri was at the helm of the Authority.

How much disgrace and national damage can regulators produce? In Malta, a lot! A Malta league basketball match is the subject of a major police investigation in Malta. The smallest EU country is well-known as a hub for gaming companies. One of the match players, Anton Axiaq, happens to be a Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) official. He works within the IT section. Maltese media reported that a criminal police investigation is underway.

Another issue in Malta's long list of regulatory compliance incidents came up. Malta is a popular place for gambling licenses issued and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). But like MFSA, MGA has serious issues with itself. It turned out that its Chief Officer Internal Audit James Grech was working on private business while in office, raising conflict of interest concerns, our sources say. He was providing LEAD Training Services in anti-money laundering, MLRO, internal auditing, and other gaming-related topics. Malta, for sure, has a big problem with its regulators and war grey-listed for good reasons!