LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta has been officially grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force. The decision was taken during the FATF plenary session on Wednesday afternoon; a move which may seriously impact the financial sector.
An International Monetary Fund study suggests that ending up on the grey list could have serious repercussions on the country’s economy, impacting banking, business and the attractiveness to foreign investors.
Malta, together with Romania, became the first two European member states to fall under the FATF’s jurisdictions under increased monitoring, known as the grey-list.
The FATF grey list does not imply any specific sanctions. However, it serves as a warning to the international community that the country is not doing enough to stop major financial crime and therefore cannot be trusted.
The interational community became aware of years of inaction, corruption scandals involving Labour government Ministers following the assassination of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.
Though legislative and other efforts rushed through in recent months appear to have satisfied Moneyval – the Council of Europès anti-money laundering body – they proved insufficient for the FATF, whose 39 members include 37 nations from across the globe, the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Maltese Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had insisted in recent days that Malta would not deserve grey-listing after all the work it had done in the past year and a half.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews