Finance Minister Edward Scicluna told financial practitioners on Monday that Panama “is all history now”, though he quickly backtracked when confronted about his statement by the Times of Malta.

Speaking during the opening of an event organised by the Institute for Financial Services Practitioners, Prof. Scicluna said the MFSA, FIAU, the courts and the rule of law had all been dragged into it.

“It is up to the historians to judge, I am not going to point fingers at who started what”, Prof. Scicluna told the audience.

When questioned by the Times of Malta about his statement minutes after delivering his speech, Prof. Scicluna denied saying Panama should be relegated to the history books.

“Panama is not history”, the minister said.

Asked to clarify his statement about not pointing fingers at who started what, when it was Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister‘ s top aide Keith Schembri who were implicated in the scandal, Prof. Scicluna again insisted he would not point any fingers.

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The Finance Minister said during his speech that Panama was not an attack on Malta or its legislation.

He also said regulatory institutions needed to be strengthened, not destroyed or damaged.

Prof. Scicluna said the government was working on implementing a fifty-point plan to address any weaknesses in Malta’s regulatory framework.