B 341
L.N. 26 of 2020
PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT
(CAP. 373)
Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism 
(Amendment) Regulations, 2020
IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 12 of the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Minister for Finance,
acting on the advice of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, has
made the following regulations:-
Citation.
S.L. 373.011. The title of these regulati ons is the Prevention of Money
Laundering and Funding of Terrorism (Amendment) Regulations,
2020, and these regulations shall be read and construed as one with
the Prevention of Money Launde ring and Funding of Terrorism
Regulations, hereinafter referre d to as "the principal regulati ons".
Amends 
regulation 2 of 
the principal regulations.2. Sub-regulation (1) of regulation 2 of the principal
regulations shall be amended as follows:
(a) the definition "beneficia l owner" shall be amended
as follows:
(i) in the second proviso to paragraph (a) thereto,
for the words "actions taken to identify the beneficial
owner" there shall be substitu ted the words "actions taken
and any difficulties encountered to determine who the
beneficial owner is";
(ii) in sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (b) thereof,
immediately after the words "the settlor" there shall beadded the words "or settlors";
(iii) in sub-paragraph (iii) of paragraph (b)
thereof, immediately after the words "the protector" thereshall be added the words "or protectors";
(b) the definition "casino" shall be substituted by the
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following:
(c) the definition "electronic money" shall be
substituted by the following:
(d) in the definition "gaming licensee" for the words "in
terms of the Lotteries and Other Games Act* and, or the
Gaming Authorisation Regulations " there shall be substituted
the words "in terms of the Gaming Authorisation Regulations";and the marginal note "C ap. 438." shall be deleted;
(e) in the definition "gaming service" the words ", and
shall also include a game subjec t to a licensing requirement in
terms of the Lotteries and Other  Games Act† and the subsidiary
legislation existing thereunde r" and the corresponding marginalCap. 583." "casino" means any premises where
gaming services are made available to the publicby a gaming licensee and in relation to which a
concession in terms of article 11(3)(a) of the
Gaming Act has been granted, and "casinolicensee" in these regulations shall be construed
accordingly;";
Cap. 376." "electronic money" has the same meaning
as is assigned to the term in the Financial
Institutions Act, and excludes monetary valuethat:
(a) is stored on instruments that
can be used to acquire goods or services
only in the premises used by the issuer or
under a commercial agreement with thei s s u e r  e i t h e r  w i t h i n  a  l i m i t e d  n e t w o r k  o f
service providers or for a limited range of
goods or services; or
(b) is used to make payment
transactions executed by means of anytelecommunication, digital or IT device,
where the goods or services purchased are
delivered to and are to be used throughtelecommunication, digital or IT device,
provided that the telecommunication,
digital or IT operator does not act only asan intermediary between the payment
service user and the supplier of the goods
and services;";
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note "Cap. 438." shall be deleted;
(f) the definition "occasional transaction" shall be
amended as follows:
(i) paragraphs (e) to (h) thereof shall be
renumbered as paragraphs (f) to (i);
(ii) immediately a fter paragraph (d) thereof, there
shall be added the following new paragraph:
"(e) a transaction amounting to ten
thousand euro (€10,000) or more, carried out by a
natural or legal person tr ading in works of art or
acting as intermediary in the sale of works of art, in
a single operation or in several operations which
appear to be linked;";
(iii) paragraph (h) thereof, as renumbered, shall be
substituted by the following:
 "(h) the provision of material aid,
assistance or advice on tax matters;";
(iv) in paragraph (i) thereof, as renumbered, for
the words "a similar structure ." there shall be substituted
the words "a similar structure;"; and
(v) immediately after paragraph (i) thereof, as
renumbered, there shall be added the following new
paragraphs:
"(j) the provision, by real estate agents, of
intermediation services in relation to the letting ofimmovable property where the monthly rentamounts to ten thousand euro (€10,000) or more;
and
(k) the storage, by fr ee ports, of works of
art the value of which is equal to or exceeds tenthousand euro (€10,000).";
(g) the definition "politica lly exposed persons" shall be
amended as follows:
(i) in the first paragraph thereof, immediately
after the words "means natural persons who are or havebeen entrusted with prominent public functions" there shall
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be added the words "in or outside Malta"; and for the
words "includes the following"  there shall be substituted
the word "means";
(ii) in paragraph (h) thereof, for the words "or
any other international body;" th ere shall be substituted the
words "or any other international body; and" and
(iii) immediately after paragraph (h) thereof, there
shall be added the following new paragraph:
"(i) Anyone entrusted with a prominent
public function listed in an order issued by the
Minister in terms of artic le 12(5) of the Act from
time to time, or included in any other equivalentlist issued by any other ju risdiction or international
organisation.";
(h) the definition "relevant activity" shall be amended
as follows:
(i) in paragraph (a) thereof, immediately after
the words "acting as provided for in paragraph (c)" thereshall be added the words "and any other person that
undertakes to provide, directly , or through other persons to
whom he is related, material  aid, assistance or advice on
tax matters";
(ii) in paragraph (b) thereof, immediately after
the words "real estate agent s" there shall be added the
words ", including when acting as intermediaries inrelation to the letting of imm ovable property where the
monthly rent amounts to ten thousand euro (€10,000) or
more";
(iii) in paragraph (g) thereof, for the words
"gaming licensees; and" there shall be substituted thewords "gaming licensees;"; and
(iv) immediately after para graph (h) thereof, there
shall be added the following new paragraphs:
"(i) any natural or leg al person trading in
works of art or acting as intermediary in the sale of
works of art, including when this is carried out by
art galleries, auctioneers and freeports, where the
value of the transaction or a series of linked
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transactions amounts to ten thousand euro
(€10,000) or more; and
(j) free ports when storing works of art
the value of which amounts to ten thousand euro(€10,000) or more, or when trading in works of art
or acting as intermediaries in the sale of works ofart as envisaged under paragraph (i);";
(i) the definition "supervi sory authority" shall be
amended as follows:
(i) in paragraph (d) thereof, the words "the
Lotteries and Other Games Act* and" and thecorresponding marginal note "Cap. 438." shall be deleted;
and
(ii) paragraph (e) thereof shall be substituted by
the following:
(j) the definition "trust and company service provider"
shall be amended as follows:
(i) in paragraph (a) thereof, for the words
"whether authorised or otherwise" there shall be
substituted the words "whether authorised or required to beauthorised"; and
( i i ) i n  p a r a g r a p h  ( b )  t h e reof, immediately after
the words "whether registered or notified" there shall be
added the words ", or required to be registered or notified"; 
(k) in the definition "VFA", for the words "in the Virtual
Financial Assets Act." there sha ll be substituted the words "in
the Virtual Financial Assets Act;" and
(l) immediately after the definition "VFA" there shall
be added the follo wing new definition:
" "Work of Art" means an original, unique and
tangible object of any kind or m aterial that is created or
executed by hand or a  limited edition reproduction thereof,
and which is considered to have an imaginative, expressive
and aesthetic function, value or appeal, irrespective of
artistic quality, and provided th at the said criteria are metCap. 281."(e) the Accountancy Board acting under
the Accountancy Profession Act;";
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includes the following:
(a) paintings, drawings, etchings and
decorative plaques;
(b) engravings, lithographs or other
prints;
(c) works of sculpture or statuary;
(d) tapestries;
(e) photographs printed and signed by
the photographer, including limited edition prints
made from the exposure; and
(f) ceramic works.".
Amends 
regulation 5 of the principal 
regulations.3. Regulation 5 of the principal r egulations shall be amended
as follows:
(a) in sub-regulation (2) thereo f, for the words "perform
a risk assessment under sub-regulation (1)" there shall be
substituted the words "perform  risk assessments under this
regulation"; and
(b) in sub-regulation (6) thereof, for the words "where
applicable, the management board " there shall be substituted th e
words "where applicable, the management body". 
Amends 
regulation 6 of 
the principal regulations.4. In sub-regulation (5) of regulation 6 of the principal
regulations, for the words "infor m the relevant supervisory aut hority"
there shall be substituted the words "inform the relevant super visory
authorities"; and immediately after the words "and the European
Supervisory Authorities" there shall be added the words ", and shall
seek to cooperate and coordinate its actions with such relevant
supervisory authorities and the European Supervisory Authoritie s, as
necessary".
Amends 
regulation 7 of the principal 
regulations.5. Regulation 7 of the principal r egulations shall be amended
as follows:
(a) in paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (1) thereof,
immediately after the words "obtained from a reliable and
independent source" there shall be added the words ", including ,
where available, electronic id entification means issued under
electronic identification scheme s ,  o r  r e l e v a n t  t r u s t  s e r v i c e s  a s
set out in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, or any other secure,
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remote or electronic identification process approved by the
Financial Intelligence Analysis  Unit under procedures issued in
terms of regulation 17";
(b) in the proviso to paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (1)
thereof, for the words "vested with its administration and
representation;" there shall be substituted the words "vestedwith its administration and re presentation:", and immediately
thereafter there shall be a dded the following new proviso:
"Provided further that where the customer is a body
corporate, a body of persons or any other form of legalentity incorporated in a Member State or a trust or similarlegal arrangement administered in a Member State, that is
subject to the registration of beneficial owner information,
subject persons shall also obtain proof that such beneficialownership information has been duly registered with a
designated beneficial ownership register.";
(c) in paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (2) thereof, for
the words "held by the subject person are kept up-to-date" there
shall be substituted the words "held by the subject person are
reviewed and kept up-to-date";
(d) sub-regulation (4) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"(4) Subject persons shall not keep anonymous
accounts or anonymous safe-deposit boxes, or accounts or
safe-deposit boxes in fictitious names.";
(e) sub-regulation (6) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"(6) Customer due diligence measures
under this regulation shall also be applied, at
appropriate times, to existing customers on a
risk-sensitive basis and also whenever any of the
following circumstances occur:
(a) when the subject person
becomes aware that the relevantcircumstances surrounding a business
relationship have changed; or
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(f) in sub-regulation (8) thereof, for the words "risk
assessment" there shall be substituted the words "risk
assessments"; and for the words "regulation 5(1)" there shall b e
substituted the words "regulation 5";
(g) sub-regulation (10) thereof shall be deleted; and
(h) sub-regulations (11) a nd (12) thereof shall be
renumbered as sub-regulations  (10) and (11) respectively.
Adds new 
regulation to the 
principal 
regulations.6. Immediately after regulation 7 of the principal regulations
there shall be added the following new regulation:S.L. 123.127(b) when the subject person has a
legal duty to contact the customer for the
purpose of reviewing and updating any
information relating to the beneficial
owners, including when the subject personhas such a duty in terms of the
Cooperation With Other Jurisdiction On
Tax Matters Regulations.";
"
Electronic 
money.7A. (1) The Financial Intelligence
Analysis Unit, with the concurrence of therelevant supervisory auth ority may, on the basis
of an appropriate risk assessment whichdemonstrates a low ris k of money laundering and
funding of terrorism, exempt subject persons
issuing electronic money from the carrying out of
customer due diligence measures underregulation 7(1)(a) to (c) where all the following
criteria are met:
(a) the payment instrument is not
reloadable, or is subject to a maximum
monthly payment transaction limit of one
hundred fifty euro (€150) which can be
used only in Malta;
(b) the maximum amount stored
electronically does not exceed onehundred fifty euro (€150);
(c) the payment instrument is used
exclusively to purchase goods or services;
(d) the payment instrument cannot
be funded with anonymous electronic
money; and
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(e) the issuer carries out sufficient
monitoring of the transactions and the
business relationship to enable the
detection of unusual or suspicious
transactions:
Provided that this exemption shall not
be applied in the case of redemption in cash orcash withdrawals of the monetary value stored on
the payment instrument where the amount
redeemed or withdrawn would exceed fifty euro
(€50), or in the case of remote payment
transactions where the amount paid exceeds fiftyeuro (€50).
(2) Subject persons issuing electronic
money may still apply simplified customer due
diligence measures where a low risk of money
laundering and funding of terrorism is identifiedin accordance with regulation 10, even where the
exemption envisaged under sub-regulation (1)
has not been granted or has been granted subjectto the criteria envisaged in the said sub-
regulation (1).
(3) Subject persons acquiring payment
transactions shall only accept payments carried
out with anonymous prepai d instruments issued
in other Member States and third countries where
these are issued subject to  criteria equivalent to
those envisaged under sub-regulation (1).
(4) In this regulation:
"acquiring of payment transactions"
means a payment service provided by a
payment service provider contracting witha payee to accept and process payment
transactions which results in a transfer of
funds to the payee;
Cap. 376." p a y m e n t  t r a n s a c t i o n "  h a s  t h e  s a m e
meaning as is assigned to the term underthe Second Schedule to the Financial
Institutions Act;
"remote payment transaction" means
a payment transaction initiated via internet
or through a device that can be used fordistance communication.".
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Amends 
regulation 10 of the principal 
regulations.7. In paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (1) of regulation 10 of
the principal regulations, for the words "risk assessment" ther e shall
be substituted the words "risk assessments"; and for the words
"regulation 5(1)" there shall be substituted the words "regulation 5". 
Amends 
regulation 11 of 
the principal regulations.8. Regulation 11 of the prin cipal regulations shall be
amended as follows: 
(a) sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be amended as
follows:
(i) paragraph (b) thereof shall be substituted by
the following:
"(b) where, on the basis of the risk
assessments carried out in accordance with
regulation 5, the subject person determines that an
occasional transaction, a business relationship or
any transaction represen t s  a  h i g h  r i s k  o f  m o n e y
laundering or funding of terrorism; and";
(ii) paragraph (c) the reof shall be deleted;
(iii) paragraph (d) thereof shall be renumbered as
paragraph (c); and
(iv) in paragraph (c) thereof, as renumbered, for
the words "sub-regulations (3) to (9)" there shall be
substituted the words "sub-regulations (3) to (10)";
(b) in sub-regulation (2) thereof, for the words "cases
referred to in paragraphs (a) t o (c)" there shall be substitute d the
words "cases referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b)"; and the
proviso thereto shall be deleted;
(c) sub-regulation (9) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"(9) Subject persons shall, as far as reasonably
possible, examine the purpose and background of all
transactions that:
(a) are complex;
(b) are unusually large;
(c) are conducted in an unusual pattern; or
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(d) have no apparent economic or lawful
purpose:
Provided that in such cases subject persons shall
increase the degree and nature of monitoring of the
business relationship, to determine whether those
transactions or activities are suspicious in terms ofregulation 15(3)."; and
(d) immediately after sub-regulation (9) thereof, as
substituted, there shall be added the following new sub-
regulations:
"(10)  Where occasional tr ansactions or business
relationships or transact ions involve non-reputable
jurisdictions, subject persons shall:
(a) obtain additional information on the
identity of the customer and, where applicable, thebeneficial owners;
(b) obtain additional information on the
intended nature of business relationships;
(c) obtain additional information on the
source of wealth and s ource of funds of the
customer, and, where applicable, the beneficialowners;
(d) obtain information on the purpose of
prospective or executed transactions;
(e) obtain the approval of senior
management when establishing business
relationships, carrying out  occasional transactions
or continuing business relationships;
(f) conduct enhanced monitoring of
business relationships by increasing the frequency
of monitoring, and identifying and, whereappropriate, examining patterns of transactions thatrequire further scrutiny; and
(g) where applicable, require that the first
payment be carried out through a bank account inthe customer’s name held with a bank subject to
customer due diligence obligations that are
consistent with those laid down under these
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regulations.
(11) Where occasional transactions or business
relationships or transactions involve non-reputable
jurisdictions in respect of whic h there is an international
call for counter-measures, subj ect persons shall inform in
writing the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, and shallapply one or more of the foll owing enhanced  customer due
diligence measures:
(a) carry out additional customer due
diligence measures;
(b) introduce enhanced reporting
mechanisms or systematic reporting of
transactions;
(c) limit occasional transactions or business
relationships involving such non-reputablejurisdictions:
Provided that in the cases referred to in this sub-
regulation the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit or therelevant supervisory authority  shall apply any one or more
of the following counter-measures:
(a) refuse the establishment in Malta of
branches, representative of fices or subsidiaries of
persons or entities undertak ing activities equivalent
to relevant financial business or relevant activitywhich are situated in such non-reputable
jurisdictions, or otherwise take into account thefact that that person or e ntity is situated in a non-
reputable jurisdiction that has deficiencies in itsanti-money laundering and counter funding ofterrorism regime;
(b) prohibit subject persons from
establishing branches or representative offices insuch a non-reputable jurisdiction or otherwise take
into account the fact that the branch or
representative office would be situated in a non-reputable jurisdiction that has deficiencies in its
anti-money laundering and counter funding of
terrorism regime;
(c) carry out increased compliance
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monitoring or require increased external audit
requirements on branches and subsidiaries of
persons and entities referred to in paragraph (a),established in Malta;
(d) require external audit requirements on
subject persons forming part of a group in respectof their branches or subsidiaries in such non-
reputable jurisdictions; and
(e) require subject persons carrying out
relevant financial business to review, amend or
terminate correspondent relationships withrespondent institutions established in such non-
reputable jurisdiction.
(12) The provisions of the proviso to sub-
regulation (11) shall not prejudice the ability of theFinancial Intelligence Analysis Unit, or a supervisory
authority, acting pursuant to its powers at law, to apply, inthe case referred to in this sub-regulation, measures other
than those envisaged in that proviso, or to apply measures
so envisaged in other situations as deemed appropriate.
(13) When taking any measures as set out in the
proviso to sub-regulation (11), the Financial IntelligenceAnalysis Unit and the relevant supervisory authorities shalltake into account, as appropria te, relevant evaluations,
assessments or reports drawn up by internationalorganisations, which lay down or monitor adherence withinternational standards for the prevention of money
laundering and for combating the funding of terrorism, in
relation to the risks posed by individual third countries,and shall duly notify the European Commission of any
measures taken.".
Amends 
regulation 13 of the principal 
regulations.9. Sub-regulation (6) of regulation 13 of the principal
regulations shall be substituted by the following:
"(6) The processing of personal data for the purposes of
the Act and these regulations shall be deemed to be a matter of
public interest under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, and the term
"personal data" shall have the s ame meaning as is assigned to i t
under Regulation (EU) 2016/679.". 
Substitutes 
regulation 14 of 
the principal regulations.10. Regulation 14 of the principal regulations shall be
substituted by the following:
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"14. (1) The Financial Intel ligence Analysis Unit shall
maintain comprehensive statisti cal data relative to its functions
under the Act, to assist in the review of the effectiveness of the
national system to combat money laundering or the funding of
terrorism and the carrying out of national risk assessments.
(2) Comprehensive statistical data maintained under
sub-regulation (1)  shall include: 
(a) data measuring the si ze and importance of the
different sectors which are subject to anti-moneylaundering and counter-funding of terrorism obligations
under these regulations, including the number of entitiesand persons conducting a relevant activity or a relevant
financial business and the economic importance of each
sector;
(b) the kind of activity conducted by the entities
and persons referred to in paragraph (a);
(c) the number of suspicious transaction reports
made to the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, the types
of underlying criminal activitie s, where this information is
known, and the follow up given to these reports;
(d) where available, data identifying the number
and percentage of suspicious transaction reports resulting
in further investigation, toge ther with an annual report to
subject persons detailing the usefulness and follow-up of
the reports presented;
(e) statistics relevant to the exchange of
information between the Financial Intelligence AnalysisUnit and foreign counterparts, including data regarding the
number of requests for information made, received,refused and answered in full or in part, broken down per
foreign counterpart;
(f) data on human resources available to the
Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit to carry out itsfunctions under article 16(1)( a), (b) and (c) of the Act;
(g) the number of on-site and off-site
examinations carried out on subject persons with the aimof monitoring their compliance with the provisions of the
Act and any regulations made thereunder, the number of
compliance failures or contraventions identified following
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such examinations, and the number and values of
administrative measures or penalties imposed.
(3) The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit shall
publish consolidated reviews of the statistical data gathered i n
accordance with this regulation on an annual basis and shall
ensure that such statistical dat a is also made available to the
National Co-ordinating Committee on Combating Money
Laundering and Funding of Te rrorism established by the
National Co-ordinating Committee on Combating MoneyLaundering and Funding of Terrori sm Regulations in terms of
article 12A of the Act and the European Commission on an
annual basis and upon request.".
Amends 
regulation 16 of 
the principal regulations.11. Sub-regulation (2) of regulation 16 of the principal
regulations shall be amended as follows:
 (a) paragraph (b) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"(b) disclosures between subject persons who
undertake relevant financial business, other than a business
referred to in paragraphs (l), (m) and (n) under the
definition "relevant financia l business" or between those
subject persons and other pe rsons undertaking equivalent
business, whether situated in  a  M e m b e r  S t a t e  o r  a  t h i r d
country, which form part of  the same group and apply
group-wide policies and proce dures as provided for under
regulation 6;";
(b) paragraph (c) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"(c) disclosures between subject persons who
undertake activities under paragraph (a) or paragraph (c) of
the definition "relevant activi ty" or between those subject
persons and other persons undertaking activities equivalent
to those under the said parag raphs in a Member State or a
third country imposing require ments similar to those laid
down in these regulations, who perform their professionalactivities, whether as employees or not, within the same
legal person or within a larger structure to which they
belong and which share common ownership, managementor compliance control;"; and
(c) in paragraph (d) thereof, immediately after the
words "who undertakes relevant financial business" there shall
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be added the words ", other than a business referred to in
paragraphs (l), (m) and (n) under the definition "relevant
financial business" ". 
Amends 
regulation 21 of 
the principal regulations.12. In the proviso to paragraph (c) of sub-regulation (4) of
regulation 21 of the principal regulations, for the words "conf erred to
it under article 30C" there shal l be substituted the words "con ferred to
it under article 30D". 
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