Centralised Bank Account Register

The Role

The Centralised Bank Account Register (CBAR) is a data collection and retrieval system for information on accounts identifiable by IBAN, safe deposit boxes and safe custody services provided by credit and financial institutions within the Maltese territory.

The system is accessible exclusively to the FIAU and other designated national competent authorities for the purposes of preventing, detecting, investigating or prosecuting money laundering, associated predicate offences, funding of terrorism or any other serious criminal offence.

The CBAR Section within the FIAU is tasked with the administration of the CBAR system. The section is responsible for coordinating efforts in data collection and data integrity; regulating access and use amongst competent authorities; and analysing requirements to maximise CBAR’s potential.

Regulatory Context

The amendments carried out by Directive (EU) 2018/843 oblige Member States to establish centralised automated mechanisms for the collection and retrieval of data on bank and payment accounts, as well as on safe custody services. Directive (EU) 2019/1153 lays down the rules facilitating the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences.

 

The FIAU has been vested with the power to administer the CBAR for Malta under Article 16 (1) (n) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Centralised Bank Account Register Regulations, 2020 bring into force provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/843 and of Directive (EU) 2019/1153.

Step 1
Entity Registration

Credit and financial institutions presently offering the above-mentioned services are required to register as a Reporting Entity on the CBAR Registration portal.
If the institution is taking active steps to eventually start offering any of the above-mentioned services, it is imperative that it registers prior to on-boarding its first customer.

Step 2
User Registration

If more than one user needs to be registered for the same entity, additional applications can be submitted once the entity registration is approved by the CBAR Team.
Every prospective user will be required to register on the CBAR Registration portal and will be subject to approval from the CBAR team.

Step 3
Data Submission

Reporting entities are required to submit data in line with the XML scheme once every seven calendar days.
The seven day period is a rolling period and therefore it will start to run from the day following that on which a successful submission is made.

Step 4
Data Validation

Reporting Entity Portal is available via the CBAR Application. The portal provides reporting entities with a list of submissions and their respective validation results.
Where applicable, detailed validation error messages will be available to assist reporting entities in identifying issues in the data.

Technical Requirements and Guidance

 

The following section will be continuously updated with the latest technical documentation and guidance, including: XML schema, validation rules, user manuals and reportable data guidelines. Should you have any questions you are kindly requested to direct your queries to our contact page.

Reportable Data Guidelines

Includes information on reportable data

XSD and Validation Rules

Includes XML schema, validation rules and XSD file

Presentations

Presentation slides of the webinars conducted

Registration & User Manual

Includes the User Registration Manual and the CBAR Portal User Manual for Reporting Entities