Kristina Arbociute | FinTelegram News

Malta’s FIAU Officials On The Brink Of Losing Their Power!

FIAU Malta Mark Lagarde - March 13, 2023

Until August 2022, Malta was greylisted by the FATF for being a money-laundering hub. The greylisting was undoubtedly the result of failures of the country's Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU). Nevertheless, its officials enjoy almost unlimited powers without transparency. They meet behind closed doors to decide on punishments. While enjoying such powers, they do not declare their conflicts of interest. A litany of companies has sued the FIAU.

Malta’s Pussycat Regulator FIAU Issues Token Fine Against HSBC Bank Malta

FIAU Malta Mark Lagarde - December 6, 2022

“Being very strong with the weak and very weak with the strong” was the criticism launched towards Malta’s FIAU by various professionals, international media, and institutions. After firing hefty fines against small operators, including advocates and notary public, the FIAU, headed by Kenneth Farrugia and Alfred Zammit, recently came up with a token fine against HSBC Bank Malta. The fine considered a joke by international media is just €83,000. FIAU has earned the reputation as a "Pussycat Regulator."

Regulatory Issue: Malta’s Lombard Bank Sues FIAU Over Unconstitutional Fine!

Compliance Mark Lagarde - October 31, 2022

Maltese financial institutions, including Lombard Bank, are challenging the legality of administrative fines dished out by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) in court. Claiming that its rights were breached in the FIAU’s applications of sanctions against it, Lombard Bank initiated legal proceedings in Malta’s Constitutional court. FIAU fined the bank when Malta faced the possibility of being grey-listed by Moneyval and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Ferratum Bank Appeals Malta’s FIAU Fine

Compliance Mark Lagarde - September 7, 2022

Malta-registered and MFSA-regulated Ferratum Bank was fined by the controversial regulator Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU). The bank's parent company Multitude SE has considered the FIAU’s penalty decision following a compliance examination on its subsidiary Ferratum Bank. The examination was carried out on Ferratum Bank between December 2018 and May 2019, resulting in an administrative penalty of €653,637. The fine was issued in August 2022, hence almost more than three years after the visit!

XNT Wins Courtbattle Against Maltese Regulator FIAU

FIAU Malta Ben - July 26, 2022

Malta’s MFSA-regulated investment firm XNT Ltd, part of the Exante Group, has won the first hurdle in its court battle against Malta’s FIAU. After years of the inaction of flagrant abuse in well-renowned cases, the FIAU dished out fines to small firms and continued with its action against top firms. Following media pressure, the FIAU opted to fine some larger firms such as XNT. It has so far failed to publicly take action against the likes of Calamatta Cuschieri despite shocking court revelations.

Courts Rule That Malta’s FIAU Hugely Over-Fined Firms and Professionals To Impress FATF!

FATF Ben - July 13, 2022

Malta was grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June 2021. This had been long coming. In a bid to not become grey listed and impress the FATF, Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) was over-fining individuals and firms. The FATF did not fall for such games and grey-listed Malta. The FIAU continued issuing very high fines to targeted companies and individuals. Malta has now been removed from the FATF grey list after a year. Some companies and individuals who were hugely fined took legal action against the FIAU.

Regulatory Issues! Malta’s FIAU sued by N Trust Limited!

Court Cases Ben - May 23, 2022

A wave of court cases has been filed in Malta’s courts against the FIAU, headed by Kenneth Farrugia. The regulator is under harsh criticism for acting late or not acting at all against the big fish while being too strong with the weak. The FIAU dished out a €94,868 fine against N Trust Limited earlier this year. N Trust Limited has appealed the fine and sued the FIAU for allegedly acting as judge, jury, and prosecutor, which would violate constitutional and human rights.

Russian-Maltese Exante still operating in Malta and Cyprus despite Russia’s blacklisting

CySEC Ben - March 3, 2022

Exante Group is a Maltese-Russian investment venture with XNT LTD (previously known as Exante Ltd), an investment firm regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), and EXT Ltd, an investment firm regulated by CySEC. Exante has a long story of investigations by authorities in the U.S. In 2021, the Russian Central Bank blacklisted Exante and its CySEC-regulated entity. An investigation by The Shift found that the Exante companies are still operating. It is still listed as a member firm of the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE).

Malta’s Compliance Issue – Ivan Grixti and the broker scam One Two Trade!

FIAU Malta Ben - December 7, 2021

Ivan Grixti is a former Malta Labour Party MEP candidate and a lecturer at the Department of Accountancy at the University of Malta. He served as director of the binary options scam operator Up & Down Marketing Limited d/b/a One Two Trade (www.onetwotrade.com). Various reports show that the company scammed hundreds of victims, millions of euros. The company is registered in Malta. Its registered address shows an empty office at 2, Geraldu Farrugia Street, Zebbug, Malta.

Regulatory Monitor – Malta’s XNT hit by resignations of its directors!

FIAU Malta Ben - November 25, 2021

XNT LTD (previously known as Exante Ltd) is an investment firm incorporated in Malta and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Three directors resigned during the past months, namely Joseph Zammit Tabona, Michael Bianchi, and Lawrence Zammit. The present directors are Alexey Kirienko and Anatoly Knyazev; they have links with former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, allegedly the most corrupt politician in 2019.

Greylisted Malta and its disgraced regulators!

FIU Malta Ben - July 12, 2021

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) of Malta is being highly criticized for paying Maltese online portals and newspapers for positive reportage in its regard. This is very telling and indeed shocking for a European country. Only last month, Malta has been placed on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which makes the European tax haven much less attractive. Who wants to be a tax resident or owner of a company in a grey-listed jurisdiction? And then there's the strange approach of the Maltese regulators.

Scam-facilitating Maltese payment processor Paytah striving for damage control

Illegal Broker Activities Ben - May 16, 2021

Malta-based Phoenix Payments Limited d/b/a as Paytah has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons over the past months. Fintelegram extensively reported on the scam-facilitating activities of this high-risk payment processor and its refusal to accept responsibility for intentionally or grossly negligently supporting the scams. Furthermore, Paytah did not only not compensate the victims despite its legal obligations, but it also refuses to assist the victims in their fund recovery activities.

Tag: Kristina Arbociute