Malta yesterday presented a commitment to establish a central register showing the real owners of companies incorporated in Malta as well as the exchange of beneficial ownership information in line with the EU Directives which will come into force in 2017.

The declaration was presented by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at the London anti-corruption summit which followed hot on the heels of further Panama Papers revelations this week showing the extent of secretive offshore company registration.

Speaking at the summit, Dr Muscat said that, while it was understandable that the focus was currently on politicians, corruption was not only limited to public officials but also sports and commercial enterprises, the judiciary and even the distribution of international aid.

“There is not one single country or sector that is immune from this phenomenon [of corruption],” Dr Muscat said.

There is not one single country or sector that is immune from this phenomenon

In his speech, Dr Muscat gave a run through of the party financing laws introduced by the government, while also getting in a dig about the PN’s loan scheme.

Without expressly referring to the scheme, Dr Muscat hit out at people who had exploited loopholes in the party financing law by asking for loans instead of donations.

The Nationalist Party is offering interest rates of four per cent per year on loans of €10,000 payable in 10 years’ time.

Dr Muscat also told the summit that he had taken action against a minister of his who had been mentioned in the Panama Papers.

The PN hit back at the Prime Minister in a statement, saying that, instead of getting his house in order, Dr Muscat had gone abroad to address a conference about corruption. The party scoffed at Dr Muscat’s statement that he had taken decisive action against a minister mentioned in the Panama Papers. The only decision he took was to retain his chief of staff Keith Schembri and to promote minister Konrad Mizzi, the PN said.

The PN also accused Dr Muscat of “lying” about its loan scheme.