Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1457526
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 MARCH 2022 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The FATF will now be con- ducting an on-site visit in Mal- ta within the first half of the year, following its declaration that Malta had "substantially completed" its action plan to get off the FATF greylist. Abela said the news was "a re- sult of reforms on a technical level". The FATF listed key reforms made by Malta since then, in- cluding demonstrating that beneficial ownership infor- mation was accurate, and that proper sanctions were being applied to gatekeepers when they do not comply with obli- gations to obtain accurate and up-to-date beneficial owner- ship information. Asked when it was expected that Malta be removed from the greylist, Abela said: "I will continue to exercise caution and therefore speaking of a time-frame, like the Opposi- tion leader did, is uncalled for and risky." "We worked on what was needed to be done, in coordi- nation with FATF and through dialogue. This news means that more foreign investment will be attracted to Malta," Abela said. "Technical experts will con- tinue working independently and in silence. We had a plan and we implemented it in an efficient way." Finance Minister Clyde Caru- ana said that individuals in the financial sector had welcomed the news with delight, and that the government will keep do- ing its best to what is asked of it by the FATF body. "I was al- ways convinced that eventually the assessors would recognise Malta's commitment to satisfy- ing the criteria imposed by the FATF," Caruana said. Reactions Nationalist Party leader Ber- nard Grech welcomed the news, but said Malta's greylis- ting had already given Malta a bad reputation. "It's an ugly chapter that must be closed as early as pos- sible. Indeed, it's a chapter that should have never been opened, and one that nobody could have ever dreamt of years ago. "The greylist's damage to our country will be endured for years to come because Malta is seen to be a dubious juris- diction, for any investment to and from our country must be passed through enhanced due diligence." Grech said a new PN gov- ernment would make Malta's delisting and subsequent repu- tational build-up its main pri- ority. "We need a clear vision for years to come to rebuild Malta's reputation," he said. In a statement, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enter- prise and Industry welcomed the news and urged the rele- vant authorities and all private sector stakeholders, to remain committed to the process so that Malta will exit the greylist in the coming months. "The Malta Chamber will continue to facilitate dialogue and collaboration between all parties concerned so that sys- tems and procedures are opti- mised, and high standards and good practices can be sustaina- bly maintained. This is imper- ative for Malta's reputation as a financial jurisdiction to be restored." Crucial reforms One of the chief demands from the FATF was that Mal- ta's Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit assists the police on tax evasion cases, and that there be more enforcement on tax evasion cases. "Malta has to address seri- ous tax evasion cases; not pet- ty cases. Our action plan is to strengthen the fight against serious evasion. We have strengthened our risk assess- ment framework on how to investigate these cases, for ex- ample the structures employed by foreign subjects who remit their money here to evade their taxes," FIAU director Kenneth Farrugia had said on TVM's Xtra. "We must make a difference between tax planning and tax evasion: our objective is not people who are getting rebates on their taxable dividends here, and who still end up paying tax on the dividends back home. Our targets are entities that are inflating their revenues, hid- ing the source of their income, hiding the ultimate beneficial owner, or using Malta as one part of the layering process." Malta became the first Euro- pean Union member state to be greylisted by the international Financial Action Task Force, in what was a shock decision for the Labour administration in June 2021. Malta was placed on the mon- ey laundering greylist when 39 members of the FATF decided its fate, in a consensus that was marked by stiff resistance from the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany to keep Malta off the list. Romania, an- other EU member state, was al- so greylisted. The FATF's decision came despite Malta's adherence to a Moneyval assessment in which it achieved a high compliance rate on various recommenda- tions. But the decision comes at the tail-end of years in which Malta's Labour administration presided over a weakening of anti-money laundering rules: from the sale of citizenship to high net-worth individu- als, criticised by the European Commission; to the harsh light on its Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and inaction on the Panama Papers when the prime minister's right-hand man was revealed to have set up a secret offshore firm, Malta was never too far off from in- ternational scrutiny. lvella@mediatoday.com.mt "I will continue to exercise caution and therefore speaking of a time-frame, like the Opposition leader did, is uncalled for and risky." Abela: no committal on delisting, Grech says reputation could still suffer "The greylist's damage to our country will be endured for years to come because Malta is seen to be a dubious jurisdiction" Bernard Grech