MFSA recruits American experts to boost financial crime team

The fight against financial crime has upped a notch with the Malta Financial Services Authority creating a specialised team with the support of American experts.

The MFSA announced it has reached a partnership agreement with US-based consultancy firm, FTI Consulting, to boost its own crime busting resources.

The new team, under the leadership of Federica Taccogna from FTI Consulting, will strengthen the MFSA’s supervisory and compliance efforts in the fight against financial crime.

The regulator said this structure will act as “a temporary, but critical transition device” to help increase resources and expertise in the short term.

FTI will provide job coaching services and help the MFSA create a stronger permanent financial crime unit.

MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri said the project was a perfect fit within the organisation’s anti-money laundering strategypublished earlier this year.

“This partnership with FTI Consulting will undoubtedly strengthen our AML/CFT supervisory capabilities and help the MFSA raise its standards of compliance,” Cuschieri said.

He added that working closely with the FIAU, the authority will have the capacity to increase the number of inspections and examinations of license holders.

“FTI’s strong financial crime expertise, analytic and forensic capabilities will enable us to achieve an unprecedented depth of scrutiny and allow us to take the industry to the next level of compliance and sophistication in the fight against crime,” Cuschieri said.