[WATCH] Finance Minister says Malta will continue to push for a positive FATF verdict

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has insisted Malta will continue pushing for a positive result as government approaches the final verdict on a potential grey listing by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The verdict on the potential grey-listing is expected next Wednesday, with Caruana insisting government will continue to try persuading the relevant stakeholders that it has worked hard to undertake the relevant recommendations.

“We are working hard to continue showing that in the last year and a half we have carried out all the recommendations made to us,” he said. 

The finance minister also said that anyone with influence must come together, irrelevant of their political allegiances, to convince stakeholders that Malta does not deserve grey-listing. 

He also played down claims that Malta will be horse-trading in return for a positive result. 

“We will not be offering a blank cheque with things like tax sovereignty in return for a positive vote,” Caruana said. 

Asked on what can change in the remaining 48 hours, he said that Malta must continue to persuade, that the undertaken reforms were carried out in good faith. 

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“Malta has to sustain its commitment in safe guarding its reputation,” he said, insisting that irrespective of the result, the momentum of the last year and a half when it comes to legislative reforms in the finance sector, is continued. 

He also said that irrespective of the result, Malta will continue to enact the necessary improvements in the sector. 

Asked which countries are pushing for Malta’s grey-listing, Caruana did not specify, stating he would be giving further details once the verdict is published. 

On the countries’ concern regarding Malta, he said that while the process is supposedly a purely technical assessment, the minister hinted at political motives behind other nations’ decision to push for Malta’s grey-listing.

Caruana himself travelled to Germany last Thursday in a bid to convince members of the FATF not to grey list the country after having passed Moneyval in April.

While Malta passed its Moneyval evaluation, the country remains in enhanced follow-up and must continue to report back to Moneyval on progress to strengthen its implementation of AML/CFT measures.

Malta is expected to report back to the Plenary in two years' time.

READ ALSO: Malta did 'everything it could' in Moneyval-FATF assessment, Finance Minister says