In December 2020, the EU’s Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (6AMLD) came into effect, resulting in even more stringent AML regulations for businesses operating within the EU. To support EU countries as they navigate the 6AMLD, Vital4 is thrilled to announce they will be expanding their presence into the EU, in Malta beginning on March 1, 2021. 

6AMLD focuses on accountability and criminality, creating more significant penalties for financial institutions. For instance, the minimum prison term for money laundering offenses will go from one year to at least four years. Therefore, finding and implementing the best AML programs is crucial at this time. Businesses should consider investing in automated AML technology to expand their scope and support more identity verification checks than previously needed. 

The economic development agency in Malta published an official release today:

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Malta Enterprise Release:

VITAL4Data, a leading Software as a Service (SaaS) company, in the domain of AI-driven risk screening and monitoring, based in Atlanta in the US, is set to further its reach, into the European market. The new venture which will be established in Malta will serve as the company’s European HQ and RDI center.

Vital4’s Co-Founder and President, Amy Barbieri stated: “Malta Enterprise has given VITAL4 an incredible opportunity to further expand our solutions into the European Market. Malta Enterprise is committed to giving us the support and ample resources that we need to continue our focus on innovation and in expanding our global solutions to help in the fight against financial crime.”

Malta Enterprise CEO, Mr. Kurt Farrugia commented that “Vital4Data continues to add to the list of other high-profile start-ups and scale-ups that ME has attracted to Malta during the last years. ME’s strategy is not only focused to assist companies to get through the present pandemic but its efforts are also targeted to attract to Malta the most promising start-ups and scale-ups that will play an active role in shaping the future of our economy.” 

VITAL4’s software is employed by organizations for the express purpose of financial crime prevention and detection. This is particularly of use in the fields of Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, pre-employment screening, and third-party risk management. They have opted that their European Headquarters to be in Malta.

The company’s proprietary AI-driven technology specializes in the real-time collection, and analysis, of data, worldwide, without any human intervention; a world first. This serves both to reduce costs, and dramatically increase the accuracy of results obtained for the parties making use of this cutting-edge service. 

In its screening and monitoring of third-party relationships, VITAL4 sets the client’s person of interest against thousands of global financial sanctions, criminal and terrorist watch lists, Politically Exposed Persons, and tens of thousands of news and media sources for Adverse Media. An alert, containing a link to the source, is promptly delivered by the system, in response to emerging developments. 

“Compare this extremely granular, blazing-fast service, to slow, costly, incomplete, error-prone manual data monitoring, and it is clear that VITAL4’s solution is the way forward,” highlighted Barbieri. 

VITAL4 is now seeking local talent for their development team. 

Farrugia remarked that he is “glad to see one of the most promising scale-ups in Atlanta (USA) opting for Malta, where they have already kicked-off their recruitment process which will lead to high-quality jobs. We look forward to seeing Vital4 Data integrating within our local eco-system and to target the European market from Malta.”  Farrugia called on those companies and start-ups looking for a new home to do business, to contact Malta Enterprise on info@maltaenterprise.com for guidance on the financial schemes and how Malta can fit their business model. 

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Vital4 provides the key data that is required to meet compliance obligations. With a platform that is fully automated, using machine learning, AI, sentiment analysis, and other state-of-the-art systems, we can identify blind spots that are often missed.

Are you interested in learning how Vital4’s AML/KYC solutions can support your organization’s compliance efforts when it comes to 6AMLD and beyond? Click here to learn more or contact us today!