Malta is increasingly likely to become the first EU country to end up on an intergovernmental group’s list of nations that pose a high risk of financial crime by the end of the year, moneylaundering.com reports.

Last September, Moneyval, the European branch of the Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, ruled that Malta remains highly exposed to illicit finance but lacks the resources and infrastructure required to prosecute and seize assets from money launderers and the criminals they serve.

After the assessment, Malta was given until next month to implement Moneyval’s 58 recommendations for bolstering its campaign against financial crime to avoid inclusion on the group’s “gray list” of high-risk jurisdictions.

The deadline has since been extended to October as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but the small island nation probably still has too many hurdles to clear to avoid the list, Richard Daynes, a legal advisor with the U.S. Embassy in Malta, told attendees of a webinar hosted by ACAMS’ Malta chapter.

See report here