The 3rd AML & Financial Crime Conference, organised jointly by the ARQ Group and the Malta Bankers’ Association, was held on the 21st of June and focused on the challenge of pursuing growth opportunities and innovation within the context of an increasingly strict financial crime compliance landscape.
The conference featured keynote speeches, an update on the National Risk Assessment as well as three panel discussions.
Vincent Borg, MeDirect’s Chief Financial Crime Compliance, Reg Affairs and Corporate Governance Offices, represented the bank during the panel discussion which addressed the challenges of managing Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) efforts in a constantly changing landscape. Various issues were raised including the manner in which the FATF decision to grey listing Malta has impacted the role of FCC in the Banking Industry as well as the increase in regulatory requests and the demand for skilled and qualified compliance professionals. The panel also focused on the way in which the use of technology in FCC could help Malta improve its productivity, particularly when benchmarking to international peers.
MeDirect was also represented by Henry Schmeltzer, its Director of Commercial Strategy and Head of Legal, during the panel discussion which addressed the need of striking a balance between effective supervision and economic growth within the industry and addressed questions such as whether companies are going too far with de-risking of client bases which simply shifts AML problems abroad. The panel also discussed the importance of systems and processes in compliance and the importance of achieving a balance between regulatory and commercial considerations.
