FIAU brings 21 countries together in first-ever bank account register conference

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit organised its first ever international conference, with the aim of bringing together bank account register administrators from across Europe and other experts from around the world.

The conference, held over two days and hosting some 80 delegates from 21 countries, was endorsed by the European Commission.  

A bank account register is one of many tools which helps financial intelligence units and other competent authorities around the globe to combat money laundering and other serious crimes. It is a data collection and retrieval system for information on payment accounts and other products. This is a requirement under EU AML directives and locally, the system is accessible exclusively to the FIAU and other designated national competent authorities.

In his opening address, Paul Zahra, the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Finance and Employment, thanked the attendees for their interest and invited them to actively take part in the proceedings. He also thanked the FIAU for taking on board the creation and administration of the register, on top of an already broad portfolio of functions which include at its core, intelligence analysis, supervision, and enforcement amongst other duties.

During the conference, bank account register administrators had the opportunity through various local and international speakers, to listen to the experiences of other administrators and learn from these. The delegates had space to discuss, question, share best practices, future projects, and network. Round table discussions and workshops featured during the conference, giving every delegate the opportunity to actively take part and share their experiences and knowledge.

In his closing speech, Kenneth Farrugia, Director of the FIAU, thanked the delegates and expressed his satisfaction that the FIAU had the opportunity to organise this conference and for the first time ever, bring together so many international administrators and experts in the field of AML/CFT. The positive turn out exemplifies the willingness to cooperate across borders with one unified goal in mind, to fight the international plague of money laundering and funding of terrorism. He augured that the conference bears fruit and that this event paves the way for future collaborative opportunities.