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2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 JUNE 2021 A cloudy forecast on FATF Editorial A letter from the Opposition leader to the FATF ear- lier in the week, pledging a future PN government's cooperation on matters of financial governance, ex- posed the immaturity of the Maltese political system in its ridiculous game of one-upmanship. At such a delicate moment in Malta's verdict be- fore the FATF, for which grey-listing will have severe banking and financial consequences for the juris- diction, Bernard Grech's tone-deaf letter read like a postcard from a tribal leader. He would have been politically better off placing the Opposition in a far more supportive role of a national effort – mistrust- ful though one might be of the Labour government – that ultimately affects thousands whose livelihoods depend on the Maltese financial jurisdiction. His vot- ers, included. Be it grey-listing or enhanced follow-up (and be- fore drawing up that charge sheet against the Muscat administration and its surviving Cabinet members) Malta is struggling in the wake of stronger govern- ments whose voice at the FATF is a political tool that could make an example of the smallest EU member state. Malta's low-tax regime and its golden passport scheme have been amply criticised by this newspaper and widely documented for its unfairness: the for- mer reflects a global order of profit-shifting designed to reduce tax exposure in the countries where pro- ductive gain is registered, and the latter rewards the global rich at the expense of other worthy taxpayers and workers. Both carry discriminatory elements that allow the rich and powerful to exercise their freedom of movement, of capital and human movement. For island-nations like Malta at the edge of the European Union, they also represent one of the few methods of attracting FDI inside a single-currency zone in which a high import bill sucks all currency to the centre of the EU bloc – Germany, for example, with its high surplus. This trade imbalance creates the need for resource-less economies, like Malta, to put its human capital at work. This is why the finan- cial services, remote gaming, shipping, and other ser- vice industries gained such an important foothold in the Maltese economy. Not everyone seems convinced that the changes Malta has enacted over the past 18 months in Mon- eyval are enough. The probability is that at FATF lev- el, it is not just about legislative changes and action but also political will to fight financial crime with no ifs and buts. The Americans in Malta were particularly vocal about the new political leadership delivering 'heads on a stick'. In meetings with the press, and with Cab- inet ministers, where demands of the most powerful country in the world cannot be simply brushed aside (Status Of Forces Agreements, US business interests like Steward Health Care...) arrests and investigations were always on a to-do list. Robert Abela has to be at least commended for refusing to stick his head in the sand, making 2020 and 2021 a tour de force of money laundering arraignments, apart from political sackings that served to exorcise, partly at least, the disastrous consequences of the Muscat administra- tion's shortcomings. Yet there is a reality of big brother politics at stake with much larger countries that carry clout at the FATF finding it much easier to make it tougher for Malta. Of course that can only explain part of the story and is no consolation if Malta ends up on the grey list. The damage from grey-listing is much harder to fix than the frustration caused by bullying politics. Grey-listing will mean that the jurisdiction's risk lev- el 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-faire attitude to- wards financial crime displayed under the Muscat administration is a thing of the past. But FATF coun- tries must be ready to hear out Malta. The lack of action against former minister Kon- rad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri when their names cropped up in the Pan- ama Papers, 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 be- ing exposed in court proceedings linked to the mur- der, created serious repercussions domestically and abroad. Today there has been significant progress on the Caruana Galizia murder case with several prosecu- tions. Although it is now high time that these move on to the next stage and go to trial. And apart from ensuring that regulatory authorities such as the MF- SA and FIAU continue to perform fearlessly, the gov- ernment has to deal with other 'political' realities. Good governance and the rule of law are essential ingredients for business to thrive in a healthy envi- ronment that encourages enterprise, innovation, new investment and competition. FATF must be convinced but Abela's government must persist in its drive to ensure the rule of law pre- vails and the highest ethical standards are demanded of those in power at all times. 19 June 2011 Transgender case gets Malta's knickers in a twist THE case of a transsexual woman denied the right to marry exposes glaring confusion over the legal rights of LGBT persons, with no local remedy in sight. The United Nations this week made history by endorsing gay, lesbian transgender rights for the first time ever. But Malta has yet to overcome a number of legal stumbling blocks in achieving full LGBT equality – including a glaring contradiction when it comes to legal recognition of acquired gender through sur- gery. The ongoing saga of Joanne Cassar – a post-op transsexual woman who has been fighting for the right to marry for six years – has thrown this anomaly into sharp focus. The case has now yo-yoed between all Malta's courts, without reaching any clear conclusion. On the one hand, Cassar's ac- quired status as woman has been recognised at law, and her birth certificate amended accordingly; but while a lower court granted her the right to marry after contestation by the Registrar of Marriages, the Appeals Court overturned the earlier ruling. And while the Constitutional Court duly acknowledged that Cassar's rights had been breached, it stopped short of according her the right to marry… resulting in a curious anomaly whereby the State now recognises human rights violations, but at the same time offers the victim no workable remedy. Cassar's legal representative Dr David Camilleri told MaltaToday that the issue re- volves around a number of judgements (and conflicting interpretations thereof) handed down by the Constitutional Court in recent years. "Through these judgements, it was estab- lished that the fact that a transgender was not recognised as a person of the acquired sex (the sex acquired after the gender reas- signment surgery) in all acts of civil status breaches his fundamental human rights – namely article 8 of the European Conven- tion of Human Rights, the right to privacy," Camilleri said. ... Quote of the Week "If we follow logic that a country should pass the test on the basis of this exercise, Malta will pass. But if the technical process is subverted by ulterior political motives, the outcome could open a Pandora's Box. Finance minister Clyde Caruana on Malta's upcoming evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force MaltaToday 10 years ago