The latest compliance issues in wealth management across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Satabank, MFSA

Former clients of Maltese bank Satabank, accounts of which were frozen by the country’s regulator in October because of money laundering concerns, have launched a campaign warning about doing business in the Mediterranean island.

Satabank ceased operations after accounts were shut down by the Malta Financial Services Authority more than a month ago. Reports say that more than 10,000 company accounts have been blocked.

A group of clients have created a website (www.victimsofsatabank.com). The site contains this message: “With the help of various advertising companies, we will let the story [be] known to over 50,000 European companies, who have shown interest in transferring their business to Malta…In addition to this, we will also bring this news to over five million European citizens.  Satabank victims have started a project to make known to millions of European citizens and foreign investors, the problems they are facing and the way in which the government is managing the situation.”

When the MFSA acted against the bank, the watchdog said its “key concern is to ensure the safety and security of customer deposits and ensure the stability of the Maltese financial system”. 

“The decision to instruct Satabank to stop allowing money in and out of the Bank was taken on this basis. This has resulted in consumers and businesses losing access to their deposits. The MFSA is now working with the Bank to allow customers to gain access to their deposits in a controlled manner. The MFSA is well aware that customers need access to their funds as soon as possible,” it said.

When this publication checked Satabank’s own website, the latest message, dated 28 November, said: “We are currently in the process of contacting the first group of customers to arrange appointments. Not all individuals will be contacted immediately, and we request that customers await the email confirming an appointment. We will provide further updates shortly.”

Malta’s financial services industry, along with that of other European Union member states, has been hit by worries about money laundering. In early November the European Central Bank withdrew the banking licence for Pilatus Bank, a Malta-based organisation. US authorities, meanwhile, are investigating Denmark’s Danske Bank over how its Estonian bank branch was allegedly used to launder funds from the former Soviet Union. And as recently as last week, the UK government stunned practitioners by mothballing its Tier 1 Investor Visa programme because of compliance concerns. Dozens of nations such as Spain, Malta, Grenada and Singapore operate such a programme.