Anti-money-laundering agency workers still clueless about new Head

The work of the agency has continued as usual

Employees of Malta's anti-money laundering agency, which investigated the country's relationship with the Panama document, still does not know who will take over after Manfred Galdes left last August.

Despite the announcement by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna over three weeks ago that the new person at the head of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (UIAF) was elected, no one was told who he is, an employee said.



Professor Scicluna had simply said that the individual was "highly qualified and experienced," without naming. Questions and several reminders sent during the last month of Attorney General Peter Grech, who chairs the agency's board, which the director chooses, were ignored.

Other representatives on the council are appointed by the governor of the Central Bank, the President of the Financial Services Authority of Malta and the Commissioner of Police.

Work here continued normally, so it really does not make any difference.

Despite the mystery surrounding the new head of the unit, which appears to be the status quo of the 30 employees of the UIAF.

The role of the UIAF is to gather information. However, he has no authority to continue, so his investigations are referred to the police to take action.

The agency regularly transmits information of this nature to Maltese financial institutions. This information often comes from the International Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body that promotes measures against money laundering and other threats to the international financial system.

The sudden resignation of Dr. Galdes was announced last August, after the UIAF had completed an investigation into the leaking of Panama documents.

The former director of the UIAF has refused to say publicly why he resigned, saying that the law prevented it from doing so. Then it was announced that he was appointed general manager and branch director and anti-money laundering compliance ARQ Group.

The results of the survey carried out by the UIAF Panama papers have been submitted to the police, but the report was never published and it is not known whether the police did not take action on the results of the report.

Former police commissioner Michael Cassar made a sick leave shortly after the report was filed and finally resigned for personal reasons.

The newsletters of the agency that has Panama as a high risk were released in 2014 and distributed again in 2015, almost at the same time as Keith Schembri, chief of staff of the Prime Minister and Minister of Konrad Energy Mizzi.