Malta Gaming Authority (hereinunder: the Authority) made a statement after the emergence of events in Ukraine, reminding its licensees of their sanctions monitoring obligations under Article 7(6) of the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act and any guidance/directions issued by the Sanctions Monitoring Board (hereinunder: theSMB). The Authority reminds its licensees of their duty to execute sanctions screening prior to the onset of a business relationship and consequently on a risk-sensitive basis. The problem of new or updated sanctions should be regarded as a triggering event to run new checks on one’s customers. In addition to that, licensees are reminded also of their obligation to stop any transaction, freeze any assets and inform the SMB of any customer who falls under the list of sanctions.
The Authority throws some light on the importance that licensees shall ensure:
Licensees shall constantly monitor which sanctions are imposed and with any guidance, notices, recommendations, decisions, or rulings that may be issued by the SMB by visiting the SMB’s website (https://foreignandeu.gov.mt/en/Government/SMB/Pages/SMB-Home.aspx) and by subscribing to the SMB’s notification updates. In order to subscribe to the SMB notifications, an email shall be sent to [email protected].
In addition to the above, licensees shall be informed of any AML/CFT obligations, in particular those related to geographical risks posed to licensees by the geographical location of the business/economic activity and the source of wealth/funds of their customers. Hence, licensees are reminded that international financial sanctions shall be taken into account within their customer risk assessments.
Author: Stephanie Marinova
