Updated | MEPs bullied Malta, Finance Minister says of 'disproportionate' corruption claims

Updated at 9:45pm with Nationalist Party statement

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna has accused European Parliamentarians of bullying Malta in recent years, insisting that he was not embarrassed to say so.

Scicluna said that it all started in 2013 when the TAX3 committee met to discuss financial crime and money laundering when "certain Maltese MEPs twisted allegations out of proportion and led the committee to Malta."

He insisted that it wasn't within Europe's remit to come to Malta and speak to ministers and authorities because Malta was never a threat to European finance.

"After the Opposition says what it has to say, and after the media publishes its stories, ultimately, the independent financial reports provide the facts," he said.

Scicluna referred to a recently published report by the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) (a joint International Monetary Fund (IMF) program) on Malta's financial stability, which found that the Maltese banking sector was in good health, but warned that high exposure to property-related loans and rising property prices posed a risk to the country’s financial system.

Addressing a press conference together with Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services Silvio Schembri, Scicluna summarized the FSAP’s findings, referencing the executive directors’ commendation of the Maltese authorities for "sound policies that have supported strong economic performance and job creation while improving public finances".

The minister conceded that the report also highlighted challenges which he said had already been underlined by the government in previous budgets especially in relation to housing, infrastructure and shortage of labour.

"Its obvious that housing and rent prices are a concern, otherwise this government would not have allocated millions to social housing," Schembri interjected.

He insisted that the FSAP report was asked for by the Maltese government in 2018. FSAP experts visited Malta in September of last year.

"You wouldn't ask for the doctor if everything's fine. It's useless growing if the economy doesn't go to the people. Did we get there yet? No, of course not. That's why we asked for a report," Schembri said.

The report stated the the Maltese banking system was in good health and that "it remains resilient under a severe scenario".

READ MORE: IMF and EU reports show situation in Malta better than in other countries, Joseph Muscat says

Scicluna said that there were big challenges ahead such as striking a balance between development and environment but that it was important to diversify on multiple sectors, to hook on growing markets for the future.

Schembri stressed that even prior to the report and its recommendations, the government had adopted some sound changes to the financial sector.

"The Finance Minister used to allocate the budget for the Malta Financial Services Authority - this is the law we inherited. We removed this and now an MFSA-proposed budget is taken to a committee made up of members of the opposition and the government," Schembri said, adding that the MFSA saw a €9 million increase in budget this year alone.

Schembri said that the MFSA was given more liberty in recruiting the necessary staff and was now able to do so independently of the government. The, MFSA, he said was, as of 2013, also subject to an external audit.

READ MORE: Banks in good health but property boom poses risk, IMF country report says

"An IMF report in 2013 mentioned better measures to address money-laundering 17 times. The importance of implementing better measures was mentioned only six times in this latest report," Schembri said, adding that several measures had been adopted by the current Labour administration to combat corruption.

"The attacks on small Malta were disproportionate and premeditated," Scicluna said. "This is why the coming MEP elections are important, so that we choose people who wouldn't damage Malta just to get to the government."

PN Statement: 'Finance Minister should shoulder responsibility'

The Nationalist Party released a statement in reaction to Minister Scicluna's press conference saying that what he said this morning was an "insult."

"The Finance Minister tried to put responsibility for his shortcomings and a series of bad reviews and reports on the shoulders of MEPs," the statement read, adding that the responsibility should be shouldered wholly by the minister himself. 

The Nationalist Party insisted that the labour administration was responsible for destroying the once excellent reputation of the financial sector, calling the IMF report a damning document, showing shortcomings in the way this sector was run by the government. 

"Edward Scicluna should shoulder responsibility for these reports. He chose to defend the ones who truly damaged the country by opening secret accounts instead of defending the national interest," the PN said.