Foreigners trying to open a bank account were not automatically considered by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit to pose a higher risk for banks, FIAU deputy director Alfred Zammit said on Tuesday.
Speaking during a briefing about the FIAU’s updated guide on how to apply the latest anti-money laundering laws, Mr Zammit said banks were encouraged to understand the whole context of their client relationships.
Times of Malta reported last week in the wake of regulatory action taken against Satabank the difficulties foreign businessmen and workers, particularly those in the iGaming sector, faced when trying to open a bank account in Malta.
FIAU director Kenneth Farrugia said that the unit never told banks not to service clients from the iGaming sector.
He said the most important thing was that the controls put in place were proportionate to the risks involved.
Mr Zammit explained how in the past, non-face-to-face on-boarding of bank clients used to automatically be considered high-risk.
The risk-based approach meant banks could focus more of their resources on clients considered to be high-risk.
Mr Zammit said new technologies now allowed banks to verify who their clients were remotely.
He said the updated implementation guidelines published by the FIAU reflected such advances in technology.
These new guidelines would place emphasis on the fourth anti-money laundering directive’s risk-based approach.
Head of the FIAU’s legal unit Alexander Mangion said the main emphasis used to be placed on the checks that took place during the client on-boarding process.
The new risk-based approach now placed more focus on what happened during the bank’s relationship with the client, Dr Mangion said.
Dr Mangion said the new implementation guidelines also placed more emphasis on the responsibilities of corporate service providers.
The fourth anti-money laundering directive gave an indicative list of people who should be classified as politically exposed persons (PEPs).
Dr Mangion said the FIAU had interpreted this list for the local context.
The consultation process on the implementing procedures is open until December 31.