Society is becoming more sensitive to the unfairness of discrimination and exclusion of minorities from the full enjoyment of their rights. So, it is worrying that we still experience cases where financial institutions and their regulators create obstacles to the financial inclusion of vulnerable individuals.
A judge presiding over the Court of Appeal ordered Bank of Valletta to reopen the account of an octogenarian philanthropist who regularly sent money to the missions in Kenya.
This client has banked with BOV for 30 years but has not satisfied the bank that his financial transactions were bona fide. An appeal to the financial services arbiter failed to resolve the client’s dispute with his bank and the court finally settled the matter.
Efforts by anti-money-laundering (AML) organisations to curb illicit financial flows are necessary to increase the financial system’s safety and improve security. However, the policies to counter financial crimes may also have unintentional and unfair consequences, particularly for people not sophisticated enough to understand complex financial regulations.
In the last several years, there has been a trend toward de-risking of banking services. Low…
