Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1355470
3 NEWS 25.3.2021 Malta Chamber's David Xuereb FROM PAGE 1 "Most worrying is that these develop- ments, and what is surely yet to come, will have a crippling effect on Maltese businesses and their hopes of investing, joing partnerships and enticing foreign businesses to join local endeavours," he said. Xuereb said the money laundering charges were particularly damning as Malta had for years worked hard to po- tray itself as a safe and forward-looking financial services centre of excellence. "We are seeing this onslaught of scan- dals, revelations and legal proceedings because for many years, hardly any ac- tion was taken to follow up on reports and accusations," he said. "My hope is that whatever else is to come, comes quickly." Xuereb said that it was imperative that any necessary action is taken immediate- ly and that all crimes, infringements and conspiracies are uncovered and solved and that any and all guilty parties are identified and punished. However, once all legal and judicial processes are concluded, it is equally im- portant that the country be in a position to move on. Xuereb said that Malta's reputation was nowadays in tatters. "Our country and our businesses have lost their ability to develop lasting com- mercial relationships because foreign in- vestors are now wary of us," he said. He said the ever-present spectre of the upcoming Moneyval report on Malta was further undermining Malta's chanc- es of an imment and swift return to in- ternational recognition. "at is why it is inevitable that these current developments will cause Malta's reputation to suffer further under inter- nation scrutiny," he said. Anti-money laundering Possibly the most damning and harm- ful of recent revelations involves the money laundering charges levied against a number of individuals and companies. BusinessToday is informed that the lo- cal financial services sector has been left reeling by the recent revelations. Banks, auditing firms and fincial ser- vices advisory firms are worried that the recent developments will lead to further controls and increased scrutiny on their AML standards and regulations. Sources said that many operators are now questioning if existing know-your- client (KYC) standards are enough to shield them from future scrutiny. "e feel-good factor that was so tout- ed and flaunted some years ago is defi- nitely gone," one source said. "ese recent developments have done irreparable harm to our country, our fi- nancial services and the entire business community." e sources said that businesses and investors had suddenly become wary of doing business with others, afraid of what baggage the other party might bring to the table. "We have now seen the authorities freezing all assets of all people somehow linked to a person under investigation," one source said. "No everyone is wary of bringing in others, not knowing if they could bring them down too, were they to end in trouble down the line." Another source said that the effects of the revent developments on Malta's fi- nancial services and commercial sectors would be felt for years. "ose who can read between the lines know that this is not a good place for Malta to be," they said. BusinessToday reached out to banks, auditing firms and financial services ad- visory firms to guage their reaction to the recent high-profile charges and de- tainments. e vast majority failed to answer by the time we went to print. MeDirect, a digital bank delivering ac- cess to market-leading financial prod- ucts, highlighted its is focus on compli- ance standards. "MeDirect is supervised by the Euro- pean Central Bank as a systemically im- portant bank in Malta since 2016, and continues to uphold the highest regula- tory compliance standards necessary to meet these obligations," a spokesperson for MeDirect said. David Valencia, PwC Territory Senior Partner, agreed but also confirmed how worrying recent developments are. "Recent developments, which we con- tinue to monitor, are a concern to all of us," he told BusinessToday. "We remain committed to drive a strong culture of quality and excellence that is core to our purpose. We always strive to maintain the highest profession- al standards at PwC and have set expec- tations for consistent ethical behaviour." 'Not a good place to be' NIDEC ASI, head of the Nidec Industrial Solutions platform belonging to the Nidec Group, has signed a €12 million contract with the Maltese company Excel Sis for the creation of a "shore-to- ship" project for Grand Harbour. e project will make it pos- sible for cruise ships moored at the five berths to draw from the island's energy grid the power they require to be fully operative, without having to keep their pol- luting on-board diesel engines running. is innovative system will make it possible to reduce the emissions of pollutant gases by over 40 tons a year, the equiva- lent of continuous circulation of over four million vehicles, and will contribute to creating the basis for a more eco-friendly and innovative relaunching of tour- ism, a key sector in the Maltese economy. e project complies with the necessity of following European Union directives which encour- age ports to adopt berth electri- fication systems (shore-to-ship) to reduce polluting emissions of vessels in the port, while main- taining active heating and air conditioning, as well as vessel auxiliary systems. By 2025, this recommendation will become binding for all Eu- ropean ports and it has also been included in the EU Recovery Plan which places reducing environ- mental impact among the pri- orities in relaunching European countries. €12 million contract awarded for electrification of cruise liner berths in Grand Harbour