Getting off the greylist unlikely before next general election

Malta’s deadline to implement the action plan agreed with the Financial Action Task Force to get off the greylist is January 2023, MaltaToday has learnt.

The deadline and the action plan, which are confidential, were agreed a fortnight ago when the FATF took its decision to greylist Malta for shortcomings in the fight against financial crime.

Sources privy to the negotiations said it was very unlikely Malta will be off the greylist by the time the general election is called sometime next year.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has refrained from outlining the timeline but insisted last week that government intends to accelerate the implementation of the action plan.

The FATF conclusions identified weaknesses in intelligence gathering on criminal tax evasion, inaccurate information on the register of ultimate beneficial owners of companies and the need for effective implementation of anti-money laundering laws.

But sources said that given the issues at stake Malta was unlikely to satisfy the FATF demands in a short timeframe.

“The demands rest on the ability of the country to gather intelligence, investigate financial crime and dish out fines and send people behind bars. This is not a simple change in laws and so will require time,” the sources said.

Malta is unlikely to satisfy the demands of the FATF by its next two scheduled meetings in October and February. The international watchdog on money laundering meets three times a year – February, June and October.

The sources said that given the type of demands made on Malta and the FATF meeting schedule it was very unlikely for the country to be off the greylist before 12 months.

“Malta will still be on the greylist when the election is eventually held sometime in the next 11 months,” the sources said.

The general election is due in 2022 with the latest possible date being September.

The likeliest period for an election to be held is increasingly looking to be between March and May by which time Malta will not have exited the greylist.

Malta may manage to accelerate the timeframes and get back on the whitelist by June 2022 when FATF meets again but that would be too late a date for the Prime Minister to consider calling an election. “An election in the summer months is a very unlikely option because it disrupts people’s holiday plans,” the sources said.

When addressing the social partners last week, Abela called for their cooperation in the fight against tax evasion, one of the elements highlighted by FATF. He has described greylisting as unjust but insisted government will honour its commitment to address the shortcomings.

Abela’s government has made sweeping changes over the past 18 months to up the ante in the fight against financial crime. Police have also prosecuted at least 30 money laundering cases, some of which involve people who were close to power like former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and accountants Brian Tonna and Karl Cini.

Malta passed the anti-money laundering test by Moneyval, a Council of Europe body, in May but although its institutions and legal framework were found to be technically compliant, FATF called for action on the ground.