Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1372546
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 MAY 2021 13 FIAU A SPECIAL REPORT fice, and the Sanctions Moni- toring Board – are conducting their duties thoroughly and are taking action. Coupled with that, there has been increased attention, at an international level, on the topic of money laundering and financing of terrorism. Every- one is taking the topic more seriously, as it is becoming increasingly clear how wide- spread and global the money laundering phenomenon is. We are seeing that people are more aware of the implications of money laundering and of the FIAU's work. If you were to have asked about aware- ness of the FIAU six years ago, a lot of people would not have known anything about the Unit. But today, this is no longer the case and there's a lot more awareness of who we are and what we do. The FIAU had over the years received quite a lot of criticism of inaction, particularly in the wake of the Panama Papers. In your opinion, has some of this been unfair? We received an array of com- ments from different sourc- es and different authorities. Some – such as those from institutions such as Moneyval, the EBA, the European Com- mission – were fair and we actioned those recommenda- tions. We are not perfect, and we are still not perfect today, but the changes we made in the past few years are now visible and those in the field can real- ly appreciate that the FIAU of 2021 is not the FIAU of 2015. Then there were other com- ments, especially when the FI- AU became part of the politi- cal agenda. This is not the forum we should be in - we are inde- pendent, we work on the cas- es that we have received and there is a completely fair and impartial process. There were unfair comments and I do hope people under- stand that today the FIAU always performs its duties impartially and with respon- sibility, and it acts wherever there is any suspicion of mon- ey laundering. Such 'action' on the sus- picion of money laundering means that we send a report to the Police for further investi- gation, and now we are seeing results from the Police and the Attorney General's Office. It is a chain which is work- ing now, and thanks to an in- creased level of collaboration and coordination, we are see- ing the results. We are now being effective on the ground. Money laun- dering cannot be dealt with by one authority – tackling it re- quires all the authorities to co- ordinate and cooperate to the fullest extent and taking ac- tion where deemed necessary. And we are now conducting our work in a more effective way than ever before. "We are not perfect, and we are still not perfect today, but the changes we made in the past few years are now visible and those in the field can really appreciate that the FIAU of 2021 is not the FIAU of 2015." "Today we are in a position where these same supranational authorities are inviting our technical staff to participate in the reviews of other jurisdictions, an important achievement for us"