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Sarah Zerafa Lewis

Mamo TCV - Legal Article
Banking & Finance

Court of Appeal (Inferior Jurisdiction) Orders the Reinstatement of Bank Accounts

Bank Accounts were reinstated after Bank failed to give justified reasons for termination under AML/CFT obligations. 1. Facts of the Case APS Bank p.l.c. (hereinafter 'the Bank’) had informed a customer (hereunder ‘the Appellant’) that, after the Bank’s internal policies and procedures were revised, the Bank was no longer in a position to provide banking services to her and, that consequently, their contractual relationship was being terminated. The Appellant lodged a complaint before the Arbiter for Financial Services in Malta (hereunder ‘the Arbiter’) claiming that the Bank had terminated the banking relationship unfairly, without a valid reason and contrary to…
Sarah Zerafa Lewis
2nd May 2024
Mamo TCV Advocates: The European Banking Authority (EBA) has released an opinion that assesses emerging trends in payment fraud and proposes regulatory measures to address these challenges. In our latest Payments Insights, we discuss the EBA's publication which emphasises the necessity of improving security measures for instant payments, applying Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) consistently across all transaction types, and facilitating cross-border collaboration to manage the increased fraud risks associated with international transactions. The EBA’s Opinion also outlines several regulatory recommendations, including updating fraud risk management frameworks, adjusting liability rules to better protect consumers, and reinforcing supervisory processes. These measures are designed to increase the resilience of the financial sector for the benefit of the end-consumer within the payments sphere.
Banking & FinanceFinTech

Payments Insights #2 –
EBA Opinion on Payment Fraud and Possible Mitigants

On the 29th of April 2024, the European Banking Authority (the ‘EBA’) published an opinion (the ‘Opinion’) in which it assesses payment fraud data and identifies new types and patterns of payment fraud while developing proposals to mitigate them. In this second Payments Insight we highlight some of the most important key considerations emerging from the EBA’s Opinion. The power of the EBA to issue this Opinion stems from Articles 1(5), 8(2)(g), 9(4), and 16a(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010. These provisions empower the EBA to promote a uniform approach to the regulation and supervision of innovative financial activities. Additionally,…
Sarah Zerafa Lewis
30th April 2024
Mamo TCV Advocates – Safeguarding under the Proposed PSD3
Banking & FinanceFinTech

Payments Insights #1 –
Safeguarding under the Proposed PSD3

Introduction to the Payments Insights Series The European Commission is currently in the process of updating the EU’s legal framework for payment services. These proposals include: A proposed Third Payment Services Directive (the ‘PSD3’) which is a directive on payment services and electronic money services in the EU’s internal market which will repeal the Second Payment Services Directive (the ‘PSD2’) and the Second Electronic Money Directive (the 'EMD2’); and A proposed new Payment Services Regulation (the ‘PSR’). The proposed legal amendments aim to: Strengthen the protection of users and enhance confidence in payments and electronic money services; Improve the competitiveness…
Sarah Zerafa Lewis
22nd April 2024
Mamo TCV: A General Insight into Current #Data Trends for #Banks including #EU Data Developments and Regulatory Updates. Read our Article to learn more about this.
Banking & Finance

Data Requirements for Banks: Current Trends and Upcoming Regulatory Updates

With the increased importance of corporate social responsibility and the development of the manner in which banks collect, manage, store and report data, it is imperative for banks to ensure that they have the right data strategy, integrated data solutions and suitable governance and compliances practices in place. Having a proper data strategy ensures not only that all legal requirements and supervisory expectations are being adhered to, but also that license holders keep up with current market trends and continue to build customers’ trust. Although internationally (including at European Union level), data requirements and practices have been codified for banks…
Sarah Zerafa Lewis
27th March 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.
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…
Sarah Zerafa Lewis
20th March 2024