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3 NEWS 19.11.2020 THE Malta Institute of Accountants vis- ited PN Leader Bernard Grech to discuss issues of national concern and actions to address them. is was the first meeting between the Institute and the PN since the election of Bernard Grech at its helm. MIA President Fabio Axisa said that Malta's reputation is the major challenge the country and the accountancy profes- sion is facing right now, and accountan- cy professionals are at the forefront to repair it. Mr Axisa highlighted the Insti- tute's initiatives in this respect. "e Institute is not satisfied with the current regulatory infrastructure," said Axisa, explaining proposals made by the MIA to strengthen the infrastructure surrounding the Accountancy Board. "As the voice of the biggest profession in Malta, we insist on the application of highest standards and expect all regula- tory bodies to function effectively, and fairly, with complete autonomy." e two delegations discussed the threat of losing USD correspondent banking for our financial services sec- tor and agreed on the pressing need of a national strategic financial services plan that goes beyond the outcome of the Moneyval assessment. "Malta's financial market risks becom- ing isolated in the event of an unsatis- factory Moneyval outcome and without USD correspondent banking," Axisa said. "e country's economy might be severely impacted, and the Institute urg- es the political class to show maturity in building a common front and consen- sus with respect to the financial services strategy." Bernard Grech said that the Nation- alist Party has an obligation to hold the government to account, but it wants to work towards a national consensus on the financial services agenda. He said that a common strategy must not stop with political parties and the Institute of Accountants has a key role to play in shaping it. Fabio Axisa pointed out that the MIA conducts programmes to keep raising the quality of the profession and that ac- tion will always be taken against mem- bers who misbehave. He said that the absolute majority of its members uphold the highest standards and practitioners are, many times, disproportionately tar- geted in view of a minor section of the profession. "We welcome stricter regulations to help restore Malta's reputation, but all professions, regulatory bodies and au- thorities need to raise the bar," he said. "Ultimately, standards need to be en- forced by all concerned and the tone at the top within the governing and regu- latory authorities makes a major differ- ence." Mr Axisa was accompanied by MIA Vice President David Delicata, Secretary Noel Mizzi, and CEO Maria Cauchi De- lia. PN spokesperson for the economy Claudio Grech, spokesperson for finan- cial services Kristy Debono, and general election candidate Graham Bencini also joined the meeting. Malta's reputation is top national concern, accountants tell PN leader FROM PAGE 1 He stressed there was no current plan on the table to stop such assistance, but said all major stakeholders had ex- pressed similar concerns. Assistance in the future would proba- bly take the form of schemes, as those currently offered by Malta Enterprise, which incentivise business regenration, investment in technology and staff re- training. Farrugia was reacting to the findings of a survey commissioned by the Cham- ber of SME's among its members that showed how 7% could only survive in the current circumstances for anoth- er three months, while 18% could only survive for six months. Only a quarter of SMEs said they could survive beyond 12 months. He said the wage support scheme in- troduced earlier this year when the pan- demic hit helped businesses survive and retain employees. He said this was im- portant because it ensured businesses remained alive. e scheme in its current form was ex- tended until the end of December and a revamped scheme will kick-in in Janu- ary and be maintained until March. Farrugia said the new wage support scheme would be announced shortly. Amongs its schemes, Malta Enter- prise providing up to €5,000 for every business, allowing them to embark on a reengineering exercise with approved companies. e aim is to help businesses make key changes in the way they operate in order to address the challenges brought by the pandemic. Government has already assisted busi- nesses to set up teleworking systems; however a number of businesses, par- ticularly small enterprises, might need professional assistance to put together new business plans and to explore new technological solutions. Other schemes, such as MicroInvest, offer grants and tax credits. But, even more importantly, Malta Enterprise also offers assistance to busi- nesses for employee reskilling and up- skilling, covering 50% of training costs. is could be fundamental to ailing businesses as well employees in stagnant industry sectors who, once retrained, could transition to more resilient indus- tries, instead of depending indefinitely on government aid to cover part of their wages and prop their workplace up. "e fact is that business need to real- ise that someday they will no longer be able to depend on government cash for their continued existence," Farrugia said. "When that day comes, it will be sink or swim, and businesses need to be pre- pared to face the challenge." Survey findings When presenting the survey results yesterday morning, Chamber CEO Ab- igail Mamo said the overwhelming feel- ing among businesses was one of uncer- tainty. Giving an overview of the survey findings, she said that 71% of members flagged uncertainty as a concern, while 53% were worried about having a very low turnover. A third of SMEs were worried that government aid would stop, and 30% of SMEs said their principle concern was a 'non-existent market'. Rental costs, piling debt, difficulties to pay employees and increasing bank-re- lated costs were other worrying factors, Mamo noted. e survey found that 55% of SMEs ex- perienced a decrease in turnover of 30% and more throughout this year. Another 16% saw their turnover de- crease by 20%, while only 10% reported that turnover remained the same as last year. Mamo said that when asked for a fore- cast in six months, 50% of SME owners expected their companies to 'remain the same', 18% expected a shift towards 'sell- ing and online marketing', 18% expected to reduce employees and 13% expected to downsize their operation. New wage scheme format soon to be announced Abigail Mamo

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