FIA U ANN U AL REPOR T 2011 - Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit

Establishment and Composition
The FIAU is the national central agency in Malta responsible
for the collection, collation, processing, analysis and
dissemination of information with a view to combating
ML/FT. As a government agency set up by law, it is an
operationally autonomous body within the Ministry of
Finance, the Economy and Investment having separate
juridical personality, its own offices and its own staff. The
FIAU serves as Malta’s FIU and is the entity designated to fulfil
the responsibilities of an FIU set out in the 3 rd AML Directive
(Directive 2005/60/EC) and the FATF 40 Recommendations
and 9 Special Recommendations.
The Unit has been operational since 1 st October 2002 when
it was established by virtue of Legal Notice 297 of 2002,
which brought into force comprehensive amendments to
the PMLA enacted by means of Act XXXI of 2001.
The responsibilities related to the governance of the Unit
are divided among the Board of Governors and the Director
with the Board establishing the policy of the Unit and the
Director being tasked with the execution of that policy. Over
the years, an Administration & IT Section, a Financial Analysis
Section, a Compliance Section and a Legal & International
Relations Section have been set up in order for the FIAU to
be in a better position to discharge its functions.
More details on the composition of the Board of Governors
and the duties and functions of the Director are contained
in Section 3 of the report.
Functions
The functions and responsibilities of the FIAU are listed in a
detailed manner in the PMLA with the three core functions
being the following:
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1. The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit
Annual Report 2011
The receipt and analysis of STRs 1
The FIAU receives information on transactions or
activities suspected to involve ML/FT from institutions
and persons that are subject to the obligations of the
PMLFTR. Following the receipt of a report, a detailed
analysis is carried out by the Financial Analysis Section
after which an analytical report is presented to the
Financial Analysis Committee for a determination as
to whether the dissemination of information to the
Police should be made on the basis of a reasonable
suspicion of ML/FT. This function also requires the
Unit to demand information from subject persons and
any other person for the purpose of conducting its
analysis.
The exchange of information with other entities
The FIAU is also required to exchange information
and to co-operate with local and foreign supervisory
authorities and with other FIUs, either spontaneously
or on the basis of a request for information. For
this purpose the FIAU may enter into bilateral and
multilateral Memoranda of Understanding with
foreign FIUs, supervisory authorities and international
organisations.
Compliance monitoring
Oversight and monitoring of compliance by persons
and institutions in terms of the PMLFTR also falls
within the remit of the FIAU. In fulfilling this duty
the Unit follows internal compliance procedures for
on-site examinations and off-site monitoring. On-site
examinations are carried out by the Unit’s compliance
officers and by supervisory authorities acting on the
FIAU’s behalf. Where on-site examinations are carried
out by supervisory authorities acting as agents of the
FIAU, the findings are reported to the Unit, after which
a final report is drawn up by the FIAU’s Compliance
Section in which subject persons are informed of any
remedial action deemed necessary.
1 The term STR, which is used extensively in this report, should not be taken to be restricted to reports on the basis of suspicion or knowledge of ML/FT related specifically to
transactions which are attempted or actually carried out. This term covers all disclosures of information made to the FIAU in terms of Regulation 15(6) of the PMLFTR whether
or not they relate to a specific transaction.