Just days after the President of the Malta Employers’ Association warned that being grey listed by Moneyval could be as bad as the coronavirus fallout, Prime Minister Robert Abela moved to allay fears, saying Malta would make the grade.

Addressing the plenary session of the Labour Party’s Extraordinary General Conference on Thursday, he noted that Malta was given a certificate of excellence by the Venice Commission, reflecting the new standards of good governance that have been set.

The Council of Europe advisory body that focuses on matters dealing with democracy through law said last month it welcomed most of the Government's plans to bolster the rule of law but cautioned that more had to be done to "achieve an adequate system of checks and balances”.

Referring to fears that Malta could fail to meet the recommendations made by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Finance of Terrorism, the Prime Minister told party delegates Malta would succeed in this too, just as it had been successful in the way it handled the pandemic and the recommendation made by the Venice Commission.

“Now is the time to look ahead to generate more wealth for the country, so we can increase wealth and create employment. This is the guarantee the Government is giving because we truly want tomorrow to be better than today,” Dr Abela said.

Addressing the Malta Employers’ Association’s annual general meeting earlier this week, MEA President Doris Sammut Bonnici complained that Malta should never have come to a state where Moneyval is breathing down its neck to put its house in order. “The consequences of being grey listed by Moneyval,” she warned, “could be as devastating as the COVID-19 crisis.”

Financial services practitioners, among others, have expressed concerns that Malta risks facing serious repercussions and sanctions if it is grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force (on money laundering) and fails to convince Moneyval, one of FATF’s so-called Regional Style Bodies, it has taken action to implement the “priority actions” listed in a report issued in July last year.