Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1360420
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 APRIL 2021 NEWS The Commission on Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence, within the Ministry for Justice, Equality and Governance, is seeking to recruit the following personnel: IT MANAGER Jobsplus Permit No. 114/2021 For further details and application guidelines contact: Commission on Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence, Continental Business Centre, Old Railway Track, St Venera Phone 22957190 E-mail: stopviolence@gov.mt KURT SANSONE LAWYERS remained laggards in a league table of sectors obliged to have a business risk assess- ment, a review by the Finan- cial Intelligence Analysis Unit shows. Only 57% of lawyers had a business risk assessment (BRA) in place last year, placing them last in a list of sectors that includes credit institutions, gaming companies, trust ser- vices providers, notaries and accountants. However, the FIAU's drive to achieve more compliance from subject persons has left its mark since in 2019, only 44% of lawyers had a BRA in place. The overall results show that improvements were registered in every sector as Malta contin- ued with its anti-money laun- dering drive. A BRA is a tool by which operators in financial servic- es analyse client risk and how this can be minimised through mitigation measures. It is part of the anti-money laundering obligations imposed on key op- erators. A significant improvement was seen among real estate agents. Whereas in 2019, only 46% of real estate agents had a BRA in place, this shot up to 73% last year. The champions were credit institutions where 100% of op- erators had a BRA in place, fol- lowed by financial institutions at 94%. There were 80% of account- ants who had a BRA in 2020, up from 65% a year earlier. Financial services practition- ers and ancillary services to the industry were rocked by the high-profile money laundering prosecutions of late that saw partners at Nexia BT and Ze- nith being charged along with their clients. In the guidance document re- leased last week by the FIAU, the regulator noted that the number of entities that did not have a BRA dropped to 15.2% last year from 24.3% in 2019. All sectors experienced an in- crease in risk assessment com- pliance ranging between 10% and 27%. The Malta Gaming Authority and the Malta Financial Servic- es Authority also contributed to the exercise. In terms of the quality of the BRAs adopted by the opera- tors, the FIAU said "a good number" adopted detailed methodologies that explained the approach used to deter- mine inherent risk and control effectiveness. But the FIAU also found defi- ciencies in some of the assess- ments presented by operators. "Instances were noted where the BRA did not explain how the likelihood and impact lev- el for each inherent risk and the control effectiveness level were calculated… [some did not say] how the control meas- ures serve to mitigate the spe- cific risks identified," the FIAU said. The FIAU insisted that a risk assessment must not be an off- the-shelf document, but tai- lored to reflect the operator's business model, operations, and scenarios. The regulator said that while a number of operators engaged consultants to help them carry out risk assessments, it em- phasised that they remained ultimately responsible for the exercise. "The FIAU acknowledges the subject persons' commitment to engage consultants to assist them in carrying out certain anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism obliga- tions. However, subject per- sons remain solely responsible for the BRA and most impor- tantly should ensure that they have knowledge of both the content and result of it," the FIAU said. It also noted that generic mitigating measures had to be avoided. One risk assessment analysed by the FIAU found that an op- erator listed the application of "client due diligence (CDD) measures" as a safeguard against risks arising from expo- sure to politically exposed per- sons (PEPs). "This is not sufficient given that CDD measures are to be applied in all circumstances irrespective of the risk level. In cases PEPs, subject persons are expected to define in more detail the type of enhanced due diligence measures to be ap- plied," the FIAU said. The report acknowledged the investment done by operators to implement effective risk as- sessment tools but the reviews carried out by the FIAU, the MFSA and MGA concluded that there is "room for further improvement". ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Lawyers remain laggards in adopting money laundering risk assessment tools Only 57% of lawyers had a business risk assessment (BRA) in place last year, placing them last in a list of sectors that includes credit institutions, gaming companies, trust services providers, notaries and accountants.