Malta has completed its action plan to get off the infamous gray list of the Financial Action Task Force, announced Prime Minister Robert Abela.

“We have done our best in recent months to complete the action plan, we have completed the action plan and the process with the FATF is proceeding satisfactorily,” Abela said in an interview on I bought it today.

“I can give positive news about it but I have to be cautious because the worst possible action would be to take the narrative of the Leader of the Opposition, who arrogantly tells the FATF that Malta will leave the greylist three months after Prime Minister. This is a guarantee that it will not be removed from the gray list. “

“We will put Malta off the gray list, but if you give arrogant data it only shows that it does not know how the system works … as if Bernard Grech decides when the FATF holds its plenary sessions and organizes technical visits . It shows how much fun it is. ”

Abela strongly criticized Grech for sending a letter to the FATF on the eve of Malta’s greylisting last year in which he promised that a future PN government would restore Malta’s reputation.

“I have never seen an Opposition work so cruelly against the national interest, “he warned.

Malta has been on the gray list since June 2020, with the international anti-money laundering watchdog pointing to three main concerns – the accuracy of information on the ownership of beneficiary companies, improved intelligence to support the authorities in pursuing criminal tax and related money laundering cases, and increase the focus of the FIAU’s analysis on these types of offenses.

Last October, FATF President Marcus Pleyer said that while Malta was making “good progress” in its implementation of the action plan, more work remained.

In today’s interview, Abela acknowledged that regulatory changes to the gray list have caused burdens on businesses, particularly with regard to banks, but confidently predicted that the situation would improve.

“It simply came to our notice then. We now need to calibrate it and maintain a balance to ensure that businesses can run smoothly and that Malta can pass the FATF test and be a good example for others. ”

“There was discomfort in the banking sector but the Opposition predicted and wanted a disaster. However, the European Commission has predicted that our economy will be the fastest growing in the EU this year and our gaming sector has grown by 2,000 jobs last year. “

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