DID RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE DICTATE A FAVORABLE MONEYVAL REPORT ON MALTA?

As reported today, the forced resignation of the Executive Director of MONEYVAL, the AML regulatory agency, on grounds of his proven link to Russian intelligence, causes us to examine each and every major MONEYVAL decision rendered on his watch. What did he do that was illegal, and when did he do it?

The most important question that we must ask is: Did Russian intelligence influence the highly favorable report the agency rendered on the Republic of Malta? As we know, notwithstanding that report, FATF still Greylisted the island nation at the time. Remember, Malta's AML/CFT enforcement is, objectively speaking, completely ineffective. Banks engaged in systemic money laundering in Malta are not cited by the local regulatory or law enforcement agencies, due to rampant corruption. The Labour party leadership insures that bribes and kickbacks paid to their leaders are quickly funnelled through local banks and then abroad, into opaque financial institutions in tax haven jurisdictions. MONEYVAL should never has passed malta, based upon totally unenforced laws and regulations.

So we come to the issue: Did Russia fix the MONEYAL report? We trust that an internal investigation there will provide the compliance community with an answer. Otherwise, MONEYVAL's credibility as a reliable source of information will quickly become suspect.