Earlier this month, Camilleri Preziosi Advocates organised a conference entitled "Unlocking New AML and GDPR Obligations: Friends or Foes?" The conference set out to explore the ways in which the seemingly conflicting obligations imposed by relevant anti-money laundering (AML) and data protection laws can be brought closer together to ensure that both pieces of legislation can be complied with contemporaneously, particularly in the light of the imminent implementation of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25^th May, which necessitates businesses to completely re-evaluate their data processing activities. 

The conference began with an introductory address setting the underlying theme of increased regulatory requirements faced by businesses, followed by presentations on the current and future state of data privacy and AML legislation. These sessions dealt not only with the technical changes to the respective legislative framework but also served to sensitise attendees to the significant implications of these developments and the practical changes affecting policies, procedures, terms of business, contractual agreements, systems, and internal controls all of which must be addressed imminently. 

Attendees were then invited to participate in one of three sector-specific panel sessions. The first break-out session explored the relationship between the Second Payment Services Directive, the GDPR, and the 4^th AML Directive and discussed how credit and financial institutions can best reconcile the conflicting obligations ushered by these regimes. The second panel focused on the newly revised consultation document on the application of AML obligations to the remote gaming sector and the ways in which to achieve a balance between these obligations and those brought about by the GDPR. The third and final panel session explored the relevance of the 4^th AML Directive and the GDPR in the light of nascent technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. Each panel was moderated by members of Camilleri Preziosi's Regulatory, Data Protection, Banking and Gaming teams and the panels featured key stakeholders and leading experts in the respective areas, including representatives from PwC, the Information and Data Protection Commission Office, the Malta Gaming Authority, Credorax, BOV and Kindred.

The conference closed with the firm's expectations of future regulation in the fields of data privacy and AML and its recommendations on the actions that businesses must concentrate on to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation. In particular, the undertaking of gap analyses and impact assessments as well as changes to policies, procedures, and documentation more broadly, stood out as the key areas which businesses should be focusing on as a matter of priority.

For more information on the conference content, or the services Camilleri Preziosi provides in these areas, kindly contact [email protected] or [email protected].