29th September 2020

The FIAU has today issued a notice in response to the FinCEN Files investigation, in which suspicious activity reports (SARs) made to the United States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) were unlawfully disclosed and information contained therein made public.

The SARs and any related media articles may contain information concerning persons or entities connected with local subject persons. SARs themselves are not necessarily an indicator of money laundering, funding of terrorism or proceeds of crime. However, any adverse information that comes to light as a result, such as through investigative press pieces, may give rise to the need to carry out a number of obligations under the local AML/CFT framework.

Through this notice the FIAU is setting out its expectations in this regard, to continue ensuring that Maltese subject persons are not misused for illicit purposes.