The Maltese government would need to urgently and without delay address not just perceptions of corruption but also actual allegations of tangible corruption that could cause irreparable harm to the financial services industry, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Malta Branch, said.

The society said that failure to do so would undermine confidence in the rule of law and in the institutions entrusted with the task of upholding the rule of law.

STEP represents practitioners who specialise in family inheritance and succession planning.

Referring to the ‘Malta files’ leaks about shady companies set up in Malta, it warned that when dealing with the incorporation of offshore companies in tax havens, “it is very easy for press reports to overlook important distinctions, and paint everything in broad-brush. This often results in unfair generalisations being made by both sides to any argument, and confuses perfectly legitimate investments through Malta with illegal activities and tax evasion”.

It is very easy for press reports to overlook important distinctions, and paint everything in broad-brush.

“Malta is a well-regulated jurisdiction that is a member of the EU and its laws are fully compliant with EU laws. Maltese financial services practitioners are regulated by the competent authorities and operate within a regulatory and legal environment that is of an EU standard.

“The Maltese jurisdiction is absolutely not a secretive one and a great deal of the information relating to Maltese companies is publicly available at the Registry of Companies online portal. To suggest that Malta is a ‘tax haven’ or even an ‘offshore jurisdiction’ is false and could not be further from the truth. Malta has an EU-compliant legal and regulatory system that applies indiscriminately to all Maltese companies, irrespective of their sphere of activity and their ownership and is therefore absolutely not discriminatory, nor harmful,” it said.