Malta was grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Soon after, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) started dishing out fines to have the country removed from the greylisting jurisdictions. In doing so, it was highly criticized for being weak with the strong and too strong with the weak. Most of the FIAUs addressed companies appealed the inflated fines. Moreover, some companies and professionals did sue the FIAU on constitutional grounds.
They claim that the FIAU acts as judge, jury, and prosecutor. They claim this is in breach of fundamental human rights, too, the right to a fair hearing. The FIAU’s officials who decide whom to fine, and whom not to fine, do not make their conflicts of interest public.
One of the FIAU’s victims is Lombard Bank, a well-established bank in Malta. The bank did appeal the fine and launched a constitutional case. Soon after this case was initiated, the Maltese Government tried to change the constitution but did not succeed in doing so. According to legal experts, this effort by the Maltese Government clearly indicates that the FIAU breached the constitution.
The Judge presiding over the appeal from the fine, Lawrence Mintoff, opted to stop the court sittings of the appeal case until the constitutional court case launched by the same bank is decided.
Should Lombard Bank win the constitutional case, the appeal from the fine will be useless.
Given this, the FIAU is risking not collecting any of the dished-out fines and having to possibly return the fines paid by companies and professionals, given that these would have been illegal.
Lombard Bank‘s constitutional case against FIAU is close to its end, with judgment expected early next year.
