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9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 W hen Malta passed the Money- val test last month, this leader welcomed the development but cautioned that this did not mean it was the end of the road. e final decision as to whether Malta will be placed on the grey list rests with the Financial Action Task Force and the verdict is due later this month. Malta appears to have been given a hard time when the Moneyval report was dis- cussed at the FATF earlier this week. Not everyone seems convinced that the changes Malta has enacted over the past 18 months are enough. e probability is that at FATF level, it is not just about legis- lative changes and action but also political will to fight financial crime with no ifs and buts. ere is a reality of big brother politics at stake with much larger countries that car- ry clout at the FATF finding it much easier to play tough with a small country. But that can only explain part of the story and is no consolation if Malta ends up on the grey list. e damage from grey-listing is much harder to fix than the frustration caused by bullying politics. If Malta is placed on the grey list, the ju- risdiction's risk level will increase, making it harder and more laborious to attract quality investment. Businesses will have an additional burden to deal with in their linkages with foreign counterparts. Malta must show that the laissez affaire attitude towards financial crime displayed under the Muscat administration is a thing of the past. e lack of action against former min- ister Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri when their names cropped up in the Panama Pa- pers, the serious allegations of corruption and impropriety linked to major public projects, the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the murky links between big business and politics being exposed in court proceedings linked to the murder, created serious repercussions domestically and abroad. Robert Abela's administration has shown its willingness to address some of these se- rious failings and the Moneyval report is in its own right is a testament to his gov- ernment's resolve to change things. ere has been significant progress on the Caruana Galizia murder case with sev- eral prosecutions. Although it is now high time that these move on to the next stage and go to trial. Parallel investigations triggered by infor- mation derived from the Caruana Galizia investigation must now come to fruition. Police resources must be boosted and personnel within the force and the office of the Attorney General must receive quality training on financial crime. But this is only one aspect in the mul- ti-faceted approach to satisfy FATF de- mands. Apart from ensuring that regu- latory authorities such as the MFSA and FIAU continue to perform fearlessly, the government has to deal with other 'polit- ical' realties. One of these is the pressure being ap- plied on Malta to give up its resistance at EU level to sign the Macolin Convention on match fixing and online betting. Malta's interpretation is that the defini- tion of illegal behaviour in the convention goes beyond the scope of the actual con- vention to weed out match fixing and al- lows for market interference by individual signatories. While Malta may have good justification for its stand, it has to weigh this against the wider repercussions of being seen as a disrupting force in the online gambling sector. Malta must choose its international bat- tles wisely, especially at a time when it weakened its own hand by the apparent impunity on financial crimes in the recent past. Good governance and the rule of law are essential ingredients for business to thrive in a healthy environment that encourag- es enterprise, innovation, new investment and competition. FATF can be convinced but Abela's gov- ernment must persist in its drive to ensure the rule of law prevails and the highest ethical standards are demanded of those in power at all times. Convincing the FATF 10.6.2021

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