A trip by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna to Germany this week, portrayed by the government as an attempt to clarify accusations that Malta is an offshore centre, had actually been planned a long time ago, the Times of Malta has learnt.
Last week, a German regional finance minister accused Malta of playing host to some 70,000 offshore companies.
Read: Data leak reveals details of 70,000 offshore firms in Malta, German state minister claims
North Rhine-Westphalia finance minister Norbert Walter-Borjans said a data leak also included information about several German corporations and up to 2,000 German taxpayers previously unknown to the authorities.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna had dismissed the data leak as “spin” accusations, saying that Mr Walter-Borjans was fighting for his political career and looking to score some points against the Merkel government.
Read: Finance Minister in Germany to fight off 'fabricated claims'
A press release by the government on Tuesday gave the impression that Finance Minister Edward Scicluna was heading to Berlin specifically to address a press conference to defend Malta in light of these claims, as well as hold talks with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.
Professor Scicluna invited to concert called ‘The Sound of Malta’
“Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna has left Malta for Berlin where he will address the German press following baseless and highly damaging fabricated allegations which have been circulated in the media in Germany with the clear intent of discrediting the Maltese financial services industry,” the press statement read.
However, sources told this paper that Professor Scicluna’s Berlin visit had been planned well before last week’s allegations.
“Professor Edward Scicluna was invited to an event called ‘The Sound of Malta’, which is part of a series of concerts titled ‘The Sound of Europe’, that the Germany finance ministry has now organised regularly since 2013 for the country holding the EU presidency,” the sources said.
The schedule of this event included a talk between Professor Scicluna and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.
The government’s press release said Professor Scicluna would refer to the “baseless information, including video footage which appeared on NET TV, containing fake news from Maltese sources whose sole intent is the crippling of the financial services industry”.
In the press conference prior to his meeting with Dr Schäuble, Professor Scicluna told the German media that Malta had nothing to hide.
“What you see is what you get,” Professor Scicluna said.
Professor Scicluna again reiterated that the Maltese tax authorities cooperated with their German counterparts when requests were made.
“If the German tax authorities ask us for information about German holdings in Maltese companies, we will pass it on,” Professor Scicluna said.