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3 NEWS 11.11.2021 'People have very few options where to invest their money' FROM PAGE 1 "Unfortunately many people, includ- ing the elderly, have very few options where to invest their money," he said. "It is therefore no surprise that we are seeing increased activity in equities and bonds." In the past few weeks alone, Hili Properties launched an IPO aiming to raise €49 million. €30 million will be utilised in terms of an acquisition of immovable property in 2022, whilst €19 million will be utilised to partially finance a property acquisition in 2023. Days later, IHI Group announced an €80 million bond issue that it says is aimed at funding Corinthia Group's new Hal Ferh project and the restruc- turing of a number of the Group's ho- tels, among others. And applications for the govern- ment's 62+ bonds reached over €134 million within hours of being an- nounced, when the original sum of is- sue was of €65 million. Meanwhile, AX Group has an- nounced that one of its subsidiaries - AX Real Estate Limited - is in the process of being converted into a pub- lic limited liability company ("AXRE") and that the company will be issuing €40,000,000 in 3.5% unsecured bonds of a nominal value of €100 per bond, redeemable in 2031. "People have money to invest and but it is obvious many are not being guided well as to where to put it," Bonello said. "If more stockbrokers and advisors were to provide good guidance to their clients, we would not see this level of activity in what are, at best, risky bonds and equities and, in the worst cases, downright failures." He said that, themselves not knowing any better, many investors were put- ting their money in bonds and equities that were very risky and provided little, if any, return. "We've seen a number of bond is- sues tank in the recent past, and we are bound to see more of the same," he said. "If people are really set on invest- ing in property as a financial product, they should go on the international market and buy into exchange-traded funds where the risks are lower and the profits are larger." Another stockbroker agreed. Maltese investors should learn to diversify their investments and not dump all their savings into one stock or bond, he said. is was linked to another shortcom- ing of the MSE Index: a lack of diverse offerings. "Maltese share listings are primarily tied to property, real estate or banks and finance houses," he said. "We lack the tech startups, comms companies, and tourism and holiday-related com- panies that one finds listed in all top stock exchange indeces worldwide." Unfortunately therein lies the prob- lem, in that while investors are hesitat- ing to keep dumping money into prop- erty shares and bonds, most companies are reluctant to float on the MSE when there was so little activity. BusinessToday spoke to a financial analyst, who agreed with this assess- ment. "Unfortunately, the gamut of local investment opportunities is what it is, and the situation has not been made any better with the issue of govern- ment bonds," the source said. In fact, government was currenly lim- iting bond issues to plans like the 62+ scheme. And because these are heavily over-subscribed, investors were quite limited into how much they could in- vest, and how often, in these bonds. e latest 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond attracted a huge by the time the call closed in October. e total value of applications reached al- most €134 million, when the sum on issue was of €65 million subject to an over-allotment option of an additional maximum amount of €35 million. e Treasury announced it would ex- ercise the option so as to increase the allocation up to a maximum of €100 million. Paul Bonello, Managing Director of Finco Treasury Management Limited THE European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has finalised an investigation of a sophisticated EU-wide potential fraud scheme involving the import of goods from China. The case reveals a suspected €14 million fraud in underpaid customs duties and an estimated €93 million in VAT evaded. The OLAF investigation started with a focus on a small number of consignments of textiles and shoes, first identified in Italy by the Italian Guardia di Finanza, but later expand- ed until it covered some 1,992 con- signments. OLAF worked closely with the Ital- ian Guardia di Finanza and the Ital- ian customs service and then with the customs authorities of Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia in building up the picture of how the consignments first entered and were then distribut- ed throughout the EU. Three companies operating from the United Kingdom first arranged for the import of the consignments into the EU. They were brought in through dif- ferent ports in various Member States and were ultimately traced back to Slovakia. In Slovakia, their customs value was under-declared causing a suspected initial loss to the EU budget of €14 million. Although the goods had original- ly been declared as being destined for the United Kingdom, they were found to have been rerouted from Slovakia to other declared destina- tions throughout the EU and under a regime of suspended VAT payments due on them. At least 11 Member States are con- cerned and OLAF has established through a detailed examination of the transport records of the consign- ments that the goods disappeared from official control and were likely sold on the black market. OLAF estimates that the loss of VAT for the consignments could be as high as €93 million. OLAF carried out its administra- tive investigation to determine if fi- nancial losses occurred against the EU budget. This case was finalised by OLAF in complementarity with the European Public Prosecutor's Of- fice (EPPO), which will now pursue a criminal investigation. In this case, OLAF has issued fi- nancial recommendations to the 11 Member States affected so that ap- propriate action can be taken at na- tional level. The criminal aspects of the case have been reported to the EPPO for a possible criminal investigation in respect of the Member States con- cerned. OLAF has also issued a judicial rec- ommendation to the Hungarian Pros- ecutor General's Office for follow-up of the criminal aspects identified in respect of that Member State. Commenting on the case, OLAF Director-General Ville Itälä said: "OLAF has just closed a major case of customs and VAT fraud that has multiple implications. First, suspect- ed fraudsters left EU taxpayers with a bill of up to €107 million. Second, selling products on the black market – often at rock bottom prices – dis- torts the single market and harms le- gitimate businesses. We have issued financial recommendations to recov- er the money and judicial recommen- dations to prosecute those behind the scheme. In line with the good work- ing arrangements in place, we are ready to support the European Public Prosecutor's Office with the criminal investigation.˝ OLAF case reveals €107 million EU-wide fraud

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