Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tackled the current criticism over Malta’s financial sector – from its taxation regime, to its money-laundering record – head on when he addressed the Institute of Financial Services annual seminar today, saying that the island should not shy from the situation.
“The mindset is crucial: we cannot adopt a siege mentality. We are confident of our system, which is solid, transparent and fully compliant. So we should be forthcoming and engage more with those overseas and with our critics,” he said.
“Let us explain what Malta is all about as we often find that our most vociferous critics have no idea what is going on here. This is not the time to reflect but the time to move forward. This is not something that the government can do alone but something that has to be done in unison.”
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His message was reflected by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, who closed the seminar with a speech in which he admitted that Malta was passing through a “tough stress test” and that one had to look forward to “life after the tsunami”.
He also made the observation that the media was highlighting issues which might not, in fact, turn out to be the island’s weakest link.
“The coordination between institutions might be very weak, and we will be looking into this more closely,” he said, adding that an international consultancy firm was looking at what could or should be done.
“We are doing this not because of what has been happening recently but beyond that, and because of the periodic scrutiny by Moneyal coming up soon.”
Opposition leader Adrian Delia said that safeguarding Malta’s reputation as an international financial services jurisdiction is paramount.
If Malta was to continue to attract interest and investment in the financial services sector, one had to ensure that the highest international standards were attained and that Malta’s good reputation remained intact.
“If we lose confidence and do not have a stable and effective financial system that enjoys everyone’s trust, it will leave a negative impact on our economy. Financial services is a key contributor to GDP economic grow in terms of value-added, provides high quality employment and facilitates a lot of ancillary work. We cannot afford to lose this,” Dr Delia said.