The number of suspicious transactions reports being filed shot up from just a few to thousands, Raphael Aloisio, Leader Financial Advisory at Deloitte, said.

Acknowledging that things are already changing within the financial services sector as a result of the Moneyval report, he asserted that both practitioners and operators are playing safe and not taking any risks.

“All must now pull at the same rope, from the top, the middle and the bottom. Everybody must now walk the talk,” the leading auditor insisted.

He thinks Malta will pass the Moneyval test, adding the indications are there will be some form of give-and-take in the final outcome and a sort of probationary period, meaning Malta must be very careful as “they will be breathing down our necks”.

If Malta is grey listed, Mr Aloisio continued, many big companies will shun the country. However, looking at the positive side, he noted that, in in the future, Malta might realise this was a godsend as it served to raise the bar, provided the country does not return to its old ways.

Drawing an analogy with the COVID-19 outbreak, he said Malta will “recover” but the question will be how long it will take to do so. For hundreds of years, he pointed out, Malta has been accustomed to a certain culture, not just of the Mediterranean type but also colonial, however, it now needs to adjust to a new reality.

He advises that, as it moves ahead, Malta must have a very clear idea of where it wants to go and a clear strategy of how to get there. Ideally, he noted, it should ensure it goes where the world is going.

This is an extract of a feature first carried in the July edition of The Malta Business Observer.