UK puts Malta on high-risk list for money laundering, terrorist financing

The UK has placed Malta among the list of high-risk countries for money laundering and terrorist financing. In regulations that came into force on July 13, the UK removed Ghana from its previous list and added, Malta, Haiti, the Philippines and South Sudan. The other countries currently on the list are: Albania, Barbados, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Jamaica, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua,  Pakistan, Panama,  Senegal,  Syria, Uganda, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. The regulations are for purposes of enhanced customer due diligence requirements. The UK said an impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. In June, the Financial Action Task Force placed Malta on its greylist, reflecting significant deficiencies in Malta's anti-money laundering and funding of terrorism framework. As a result, Malta faces increased monitoring and will need to demonstrate progress on a list of recommendations to be removed from the list.