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Zachary Galea

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Court of Justice of the European Union Issues Decision on a Potential Breach of Sanctions Corporate and M&A

Court of Justice of the European Union Issues Decision on a Potential Breach of Sanctions

The Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) has issued a decision (C-109/23) on a reference for a preliminary ruling requested by a German court in relation to a potential breach of restrictive measures issued against Russia. The referring court requested the CJEU to provide a ruling on whether a German notary would have infringed the prohibition to provide legal advisory services to a legal person in Russia had he authenticated a contract for the sale of title to an apartment that was entered into between the Russian legal person as seller and a national of a Member…
Zachary Galea
9th September 2024
Mamo TCV Advocates: EU flag
Council of Europe Issues Guidance on Best Practices on Implementation of Restrictive Measures Corporate and M&A

Council of Europe Issues Guidance on Best Practices on Implementation of Restrictive Measures

The Council of Europe has recently published a guidance note to the general public considering the best practices for the effective implementation of restrictive measures. This guidance note sets out to provide a non-exhaustive list of recommendations for the effective implementation of restrictive measures. The first set of recommendations relates to the designation and identification of persons and entities which are subject to restrictive measures. One of these recommendations relates to the specific identifiers of persons and entities which are subject to targeted restrictive measures. The Council of Europe suggests that as many specific identifiers as possible be published at…
Zachary Galea
28th August 2024
Mamo TCV Advocates: Reporting Obligations on the Flow of Funds by Russian-Owned Entities
Sanctions 8: Reporting Obligations on the Flow of Funds by Russian-Owned Entities Corporate and M&A

Sanctions 8: Reporting Obligations on the Flow of Funds by Russian-Owned Entities

Following from the recent geopolitical developments in Ukraine, there has been a heightened interest in international sanctions. Through this series of articles, we aim to provide a general overview of the notion of sanctions, consider the local framework through which sanctions function in Malta, illustrate the general obligations which subject persons are required to observe vis-à-vis sanctions and discuss a general overview of the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia. In this eighth article, we shall consider the salient aspects of the guidance provided by the Maltese Sanctions Monitoring Board and European Commission in relation to a recently introduced…
Zachary Galea
23rd May 2024
Mamo TCV Advocates: EU flag
European Parliament Formally Endorses New AML Package Corporate and M&A

European Parliament Formally Endorses New AML Package

As of the 24th April 2024, the European Parliament formally endorsed the upcoming Anti-Money Laundering (‘AML’) Package. This package is anticipated to standardise AML rules across the European Union ('EU'), taking into consideration various potential loopholes which could be utilised by criminals to launder funds. This new package is anticipated to also improve the way national systems within Member States are organised and to promote cooperation between them to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. This new package will transfer all rules applicable to the private sector to a new Council Regulation (‘AML Regulation’), with the AML Directive (Directive EU…
Zachary Galea
8th May 2024
European Commissions Releases FAQs on Notification and Authorisation of Tanker Sales
Sanctions 7: European Commission Releases FAQs on Notification and Authorisation of Tanker Sales Corporate and M&A

Sanctions 7: European Commission Releases FAQs on Notification and Authorisation of Tanker Sales

Following from the recent geopolitical developments in Ukraine, there has been a heightened interest in international sanctions. Through this series of articles, we aim to provide a general overview of the notion of sanctions, consider the local framework through which sanctions function in Malta, illustrate the general obligations which subject persons are required to observe vis-à-vis sanctions and discuss a general overview of the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia. In this seventh article, we shall consider the salient aspects of the guidance provided by the European Commission from these frequently answered questions. The European Commission has issued a…
Zachary Galea
10th April 2024
On 14th March, the MFSA published “A Guidance for Money Laundering Reporting Officers in the Financial Services Sector”, to be read in conjunction with previous guidelines issued in relation to the MLRO function.
MFSA publishes a Guidance for MLROs in the Financial Services Sector Corporate and M&ARegulatory Compliance

MFSA publishes a Guidance for MLROs in the Financial Services Sector

The Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) has published a guidance note entitled: “A Guidance for Money Laundering Reporting Officers in the Financial Services Sector” (the “Guidance”) which considers the functions of the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (the “MLRO”). The MFSA stipulates that this Guidance is to be referred to whenever licence holders establish, implement, and sustain their Financial Crime Compliance Framework. This Guidance is intended to be applied in relation to the function of the MLRO even where the responsibilities for AML/CFT compliance management are vested with another official (to the extent applicable). Applicability of the Guidance The Guidance…
Zachary Galea
20th March 2024