Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/84 of 19 January 2022 amending for the 327th time Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 imposing certain specific restrictive measures against certain persons and entities associated with the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida organisations.

Further to the removal of three entities by the UNSC from the list of persons, groups and entities to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources should apply under Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015), the Council of the European Union on 21 January 2022 decided amend Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 accordingly.

For further information please click here.

Please be reminded that all EU/UN sanctions are directly applicable under Maltese law (without the need of any further legislation or notification) under the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, cap 365 of the Laws of Malta as linked here.

Should any of your clients be a person or entity who is listed under UN/EU or national sanctions or who is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a listed person or entity, the freezing measures mentioned under article 17 of the Act apply.

The Sanctions Monitoring Board is to be informed immediately of the actions that have been taken in relation to the assets of such listed persons. 

The Sanctions Monitoring Board may be contacted on sanctions.mftp@gov.mt  on any issue relating to sanctions.

Please find below links to the:

EU Financial Sanctions Database

Consolidated UN Sanctions List

EU Sanctions Map

Sanctions Monitoring Board

UNSC Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015)

Concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities.

On 17 January 2022, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities removed three entries from the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al Qaida Sanctions List. Therefore, the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2017), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, no longer apply to the names set out here.

Please be reminded that all EU/UN sanctions are directly applicable under Maltese law (without the need of any further legislation or notification) under the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, cap 365 of the Laws of Malta as linked here.

Should any of your clients be a person or entity who is listed under UN/EU or national sanctions or who is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a listed person or entity, the freezing measures mentioned under article 17 of the Act apply.

The Sanctions Monitoring Board is to be informed immediately of the actions that have been taken in relation to the assets of such listed persons.

The Sanctions Monitoring Board may be contacted here for any issue relating to sanctions.

Please find below links to the:

EU Financial Sanctions Database

Consolidated UN Sanctions List

EU Sanctions Map

Sanctions Monitoring Board

Russia Regime

Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/52 of 13 January 2022 amending Decision 2014/512/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine

On 14 January 2022 the Council of the European Union decided to renew the restrictive measures in place for a further six months. Read more here. 

Please be reminded that all EU/UN sanctions are directly applicable under Maltese law (without the need of any further legislation or notification) under the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, cap 365 of the Laws of Malta as linked here.

Should any of your clients be a person or entity who is listed under UN/EU or national sanctions or who is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a listed person or entity, the freezing measures mentioned under article 17 of the Act apply.

The Sanctions Monitoring Board is to be informed immediately of the actions that have been taken in relation to the assets of such listed persons. 

The Sanctions Monitoring Board may be contacted on sanctions.mftp@gov.mt  on any issue relating to sanctions.

Please find below links to the:

EU Financial Sanctions Database

Consolidated UN Sanctions List

EU Sanctions Map

Sanctions Monitoring Board

The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA” or “the Authority”) has become aware of an entity operating under the name of Kintaro Capital Investment which has an internet presence at https://kintarocapitalinvestment.com/. This website is making unauthorised use of details belonging to an MFSA licensed company, Kintaro Capital SICAV p.l.c (SV 500). Fraudsters are using the details of this genuine company in an attempt to deceive the public.

The MFSA wishes to alert the public, in Malta and abroad, that Kintaro Capital Investment is NOT a Maltese registered Company NOR licensed or otherwise authorised by the MFSA to provide any financial services which are required to be licensed or otherwise authorised under Maltese law. Additionally, the Authority confirms that Kintaro Capital Investment has NO association with the Maltese registered company Kintaro Capital SICAV p.l.c (SV 500).

The website  https://kintarocapitalinvestment.com/ therefore appears to be a clone of the legitimate entity and the public should therefore refrain from undertaking any business or transaction with the false entity.

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/22 of 10 January 2022 implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1716 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Nicaragua and Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/24 of 10 January 2022 amending Decision (CFSP) 2019/1720 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Nicaragua.

On 10 January 2022 the Council of the European Union decided to designate seven individuals and three entities under the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1716. 

Click on the below to read more:

Resource 1

Resource 2

Please be reminded that all EU/UN sanctions are directly applicable under Maltese law (without the need of any further legislation or notification) under the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, cap 365 of the Laws of Malta as linked here.

Should any of your clients be a person or entity who is listed under UN/EU or national sanctions or who is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a listed person or entity, the freezing measures mentioned under article 17 of the Act apply.

The Sanctions Monitoring Board is to be informed immediately of the actions that have been taken in relation to the assets of such listed persons. 

The Sanctions Monitoring Board may be contacted on sanctions.mftp@gov.mt on any issue relating to sanctions.

Please find below links to the:

EU Financial Sanctions Database

Consolidated UN Sanctions List

EU Sanctions Map

Sanctions Monitoring Board

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/21 of 10 January 2022 implementing Regulation (EU) No 224/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in the Central African Republic and Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2022/23 of 10 January 2022 implementing Decision 2013/798/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against the Central African Republic.

On 10 January 2022 the Council of the European Union decided to amend Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 224/2014 following the approval of the UNSC Committee established pursuant to UNSC Resolution 2127 which approved the addition of one individual to the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures.

Click on the below to read more:

Resource 1

Resource 2

Please be reminded that all EU/UN sanctions are directly applicable under Maltese law (without the need of any further legislation or notification) under the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, cap 365 of the Laws of Malta as linked here.

Should any of your clients be a person or entity who is listed under UN/EU or national sanctions or who is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a listed person or entity, the freezing measures mentioned under article 17 of the Act apply.

The Sanctions Monitoring Board is to be informed immediately of the actions that have been taken in relation to the assets of such listed persons. 

The Sanctions Monitoring Board may be contacted on sanctions.mftp@gov.mt  on any issue relating to sanctions.

Please find below links to the:

EU Financial Sanctions Database

Consolidated UN Sanctions List

EU Sanctions Map

Sanctions Monitoring Board

The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA” or “the Authority”) has become aware of an entity operating under the name of tier1fx which has an internet presence at https://www.tierl-fx.com/index.php. This website is making unauthorised use of details belonging to Tier1FX, which is the Forex brokerage division of an MFSA licensed company, Hogg Capital Investments Limited (C 18954). Fraudsters are using the details of this genuine company in an attempt to deceive the public.

The MFSA wishes to alert the public, in Malta and abroad, that https://www.tierl-fx.com/index.php is NOT a Maltese registered Company NOR licensed or otherwise authorised by the MFSA to provide any financial services which are required to be licensed or otherwise authorised under Maltese law. Additionally, the Authority confirms that https://www.tierl-fx.com/index.php has NO association with the Maltese registered company Hogg Capital Investments Limited (C 18954) and its Forex brokerage division Tier1FX.

The website https://www.tierl-fx.com/index.php therefore appears to be a clone of the legitimate entity and the public should therefore refrain from undertaking any business or transaction with the false entity.

The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has become aware of an entity operating under the name of Bristol Trading Limited which has an internet presence at www.bristoltradinglimited.com.

The MFSA wishes to alert the public, in Malta and abroad, that www.bristoltradinglimited.com is NOT a Company incorporated in Malta NOR licensed or otherwise authorised by the MFSA to provide any Virtual Financial Asset Services or other financial services which are required to be licensed or otherwise authorised under Maltese law.

The MFSA would like to remind consumers of financial services not to enter into any financial services transaction unless they have ascertained that the entity with whom the transaction is being made is authorised to provide such services by the MFSA or another reputable financial services regulator. Investors should also be extra cautious when being approached with offers of financial services via unconventional channels such as telephone calls or social media.

A list of entities licensed by the MFSA can be viewed on the official website of the MFSA.

If you are a victim of a scam or think you might be dealing with an unauthorised entity or any other type of financial scam, first of all stop all transactions with the company and contact the MFSA as soon as a suspicion arises.

On 16th November 2021 the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) issued 194 authorisations for practitioners to act as company service providers, nearly doubling the previously authorised population. The concept of authorisation for company service providers was introduced by a law enacted in 2013, this previously had exempted practitioners such as lawyers and accountants and de minimis providers from needing to be authorised to act as company service providers. The Government decided to remove these exemptions and a new law was enacted in November 2020. Individuals and entities involved were allowed to carry on offering the services under transitional arrangements once applications opened in March 2021, and were given two months in which to submit their applications for authorisation. Once the application period closed in May 2021, the MFSA had six months in which to process the hundreds received, a project undertaken by the CSP Reform team set up for this leading to both large and smaller members of the sector are now being fully authorised.

The MFSA was able to build up a holistic picture of the applicants’ suitability, with a significant number of applicants being either turned down or deciding to withdraw. Larger applicants will have received a 12-month provisional authorisation during which they are expected to supply the MFSA with other information to prove that they meet all the due diligence criteria required for full authorisation, in order to ensure the highest standards. An MFSA guidance note on this will soon be uploaded on the MFSA website.

Ms Emily Benson head of Conduct Supervision and lead of the CSP Reform team, explained that the 2020 law was one of the action points completed from the original Moneyval assessment of the Malta jurisdiction. However, the implementation of the project within the deadline is also an important milestone when it comes to the credibility of the jurisdiction – all of which will contribute to the lifting of Malta’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force.

For more information, click here.

The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA” or “the Authority”) has become aware of an entity operating under the name of FxCityIndex which has an internet presence at https://www.fxcityindex.com/. Although this entity purports to operate from an address in Malta, the MFSA believes that this is not the case. On its website, the entity claims to be “authorized and regulated by MFSA as a MiFID firm and holds a Category 3 Investment Services Licence”.

The MFSA wishes to alert the public that FxCityIndex is NOT a Maltese registered Company NOR licensed or otherwise authorised by the MFSA to provide any forex trading services or other financial services which are required to be licensed or otherwise authorised under Maltese law. The public should therefore refrain from entering into any transactions or otherwise dealing with the above-mentioned company or individual on any matters falling within the parameters of the Investment Services Act, Chapter 370 of the Laws of Malta.

The MFSA would like to remind consumers of financial services not to enter into any financial services transaction unless they have ascertained that the entity with whom the transaction is being made is authorised to provide such services by the MFSA or another reputable financial services regulator. Investors should also be extra cautious when being approached with offers of financial services via unconventional channels such as telephone calls or social media.

A list of entities licensed by the MFSA can be viewed on the official website of the MFSA at https://www.mfsa.mt/financial-services-register/.

If you are a victim of a scam or think you might be dealing with an unauthorised entity or any other type of financial scam, first of all stop all transactions with the company and contact the MFSA as soon as a suspicion arises.