DIRTY MONEY

BANKS declared more suspicious activity reports (SARs) in 2022 than in 2021, the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit (GFIU) revealed in its annual report.

The unit puts this down to its award-winning outreach program, Project Nexus, which has introduced an e-learning platform with over 500 users.

The latest report, that includes strategic analysis since 2019, is helping authorities learn how criminals and terrorists launder cash.

The new data will allow the GFIU to take the measures it needs to avoid those risks in the future.

GFIU’s director Edgar Lopez said that innovation and technology had helped overcome the challenges of

By John Culatto

2022. Last year the Financial Action Task Force greylisted the Rock for not doing enough to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.

“We have learnt a lot during the FATF post observation period and we acted with agility to meet the recommendations,” Lopez said.

“We took decisive steps to align our structure to meet demand and new challenges, particularly in strategic analysis and data quality analysis.”

The GFIU report also highlighted the success of the private-public partnership to fight financial crime.

The Financial Liaison

Cabin Crew Pay Deal

SPANISH airline Air Europa has agreed an 11.9% pay rise over the next three years for cabin crew. The company has reached a pre-agreement with the Sitcpla, Aacefsi and CCOO trade unions. Its approval would mean a 5% wage increase this year, backdated to January 1, followed by rises of 4% and 2.5% in 2024 and 2025.

Although a deal has been reached, the Air Europa conflict with its pilots is still active.

Eight one day strikes have been called, following the four-days stoppage that took place at the start of May.

WHY HAVE DISCRETIONARY FUND MANAGERS (DFM’s) AND MODEL PORTFOLIOS (MPS’s) PRODUCED NEGATIVE RETURNS IN 2022?

IF you have placed your pensions, savings and investments with a financial adviser there is a strong possibility you are invested in a model portfolio service (MPS) whereby you delegate the execution of an agreed investment strategy to an investment house.

The 60/40 model portfolio, which consists of 60% equities and 40% bonds, has been a popular and successful investment strategy for well for over 50 years. A combination of growth and income providing a safe way for investors to grow their investments without taking excessive risk.

However, in recent years, experts have questioned whether these models can continue to deliver risk adjusted positive returns moving forward. The criticism centres around a lack of diversification to mitigate risk.