MEP says Egrant allegations should be taken to Panama committee

German MEP Sven Giegold has called on Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia to hand all relevant documentation pertaining to her allegations on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, to the Panama Papers committee of inquiry in the European Parliament.

The Green MEP, a member of the PANA committee and finance spokesperson for the Green Group, said both Caruana Galizia and Muscat should hand all relevant documents to the PANA committee.

“The accusations regarding the Prime Minister’s wife have to be properly investigated. Given the poor track record of financial supervisors and anti-money laundering regulators in Malta, we understand that Mrs Caruana Galizia does not trust the Maltese institutions. Therefore, we suggest to Mrs Caruana Galizia as well as Prime Minister Muscat to hand all relevant documents to the PANA inquiry committee of the European Parliament,” Giegold said.

The MEP said that Malta had to put its house in order, and said the allegations regarding the Prime Minister’s wife turn out to be true, this would be another serious blow in Malta’s fight against corruption and money laundering after the involvement of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri in the Panama Papers.

“To regain credibility, the presidency-in-office of the Council must support the creation of public register on beneficial owners of companies and trusts in the current negotiations of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive,” Giegold said.

In statements this week, the Malta Union of Bank Employees appealed to all financial institutions to ensure they conduct their business with integrity, consistency and efficiency.

“Anything short of that could jeopardize our nation’s credibility and pose a potential risk to the country’s future wellbeing. MUBE also insists that ‘partisan politics’ should not take centre-stage, in order to allow a free democratic process to rule during these difficult times.

“Let’s be clear, we all have an obligation to ensure that the course of justice is not ‘thwarted’ and that should only be about establishing the facts, verifying them and following up with decisive actions by acting accordingly for the benefit of our country’s reputation,” MUBE said.

The Institute for Financial Services Practitioners also said it was very concerned “that the ethical fibre of the entire financial services industry in Malta” was being called into question ‘facetiously’.

“It is essential that the responsible institutions and law enforcement agencies should effectively, and in a timely manner, take all necessary steps to ensure that the law is enforced, or our country’s reputation will be irremediably tarnished…

“It is this very instability, also caused by the manner in which recent allegations have been handled by our institutions and law enforcement agencies, that is threatening our financial services industry, which has over the years become one of the pillars of the Maltese economy.”

The IFSP said politicians should be aware of the long-term effects on an industry that was prone to being lost to competition. “The IFSP is concerned that there now appears to be a breakdown of the rule of law, and we should not underestimate the impact which this has on foreign investors who are investing their money and time in our country, thereby helping to generate employment and to finance the country by paying taxes.”