The smallest nation in the European Union is earning an unsavoury reputation, with a series of scandals involving allegations of bribery, cronyism and money laundering. Jon Wertheim reports. https://lnkd.in/eYm2seB

ECB shuts Pilatus Bank as EU readies new move on Malta BRUSSELS, Nov 5 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank has withdrawn the banking licence of Malta’sPilatus Bank, the island’s financial regulator said on Monday, as the European Commission acted to step up a disciplinary procedure against Maltese authorities. The ECB decision came after the […]

  Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad, an Iranian national and former chairman of the Maltese Pilatus Bank, was arrested and charged with six counts of sanctions evasion before a Manhattan court. His family allegedly controlled an Iranian conglomerate called Stratus Group. Its purported subsidiary Iranian International Housing Corporation allegedly entered into a USD 476 million contract […]

The SEC have Charged Two Former Och-Ziff Executives With FCPA Violations, and in doing so, it is claimed that Jersey, Guernsey and Maltese entities were used in Libyan government bribes. The following is shown in the SEC complaint:- Agent 1 also used portions of the $2.25 million installments to direct payments to Libyan Government Official […]

Arsenal star faces potential prison sentence over £900,000 tax fraud claim Alexis Sanchez could face a suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine after being accused of tax fraud by the Spanish authorities. According to El Periodico, a newspaper based in Catalonia, Sanchez did not pay income tax on earnings of nearly £900,000 during his […]

HSBC has been asking all politically exposed persons to disclose their sources of funds, after the bank tightened anti-money laundering rules ever since its Swiss operations came under the glare of regulators and multiple governments HSBC Bank Malta was fined €40,000 by the Maltese financial intelligence analysis unit, for failing to conduct proper due diligence […]

The Malta Financial Services Authority has said that Alan Kentish, a director at STM Group PLC, should not hold for one year any directorship, senior managerial and, or executive roles within the London-listed company’s two subsidiaries supervised by the regulator. STM Group PLC specialises in administrating the assets for international clients in relation to retirement, […]

On the 22nd December 2015, the MFSA issued a letter to the Compliance Officers of Investment Services Licence Holders to inform them of the shortcomings the MFSA identified during focused reviews which it carried out on investment services providers licenced in Malta (“Licence Holders”). The MFSA is encouraging all Licence Holders to consider the key […]