Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela has said the Financial Action Task Force’s decision to put it on a grey list was "unjust" and "undeserved."
The FATF, a money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog set up by the G7 countries, greylisted Malta on Wednesday, 23 June.
Congrats Malta. I already had to reassure one of my team members they're not losing their job due to the greylisting. Fantastic stuff, keep it up.
— {o_0} (@amato_0) June 23, 2021
Malta's booming financial and gaming sectors will be hard hit by the decision, which will introduce an extra layer of bureaucracy in foreign investment, money transactions and banking activity.
In the last decade Malta’s economy has boomed but critics have said much of the investment in the country was linked to money laundering and corruption.
The #FATF greylisting puts #Malta in a very difficult position yet provides an opportunity for further reform.
— VoltMalta (@VoltMalta) June 23, 2021
🇲🇹 has made significant strides in increasing compliance, but also needs to double down further on enforcement & investigating financial crime.
Let's do what it takes! pic.twitter.com/A4QBIXRAGj
In 2017 journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who had made a number of allegations against politicians and businessmen on the island, was killed by a bomb.
The Panama Papers scandal in 2016 named Maltese government minister Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri, chief of staff for the former premier.
Schembri has been charged with money laundering and corruption and Mizzi was thrown out of the ruling Labour Party but remains an independent MP.
Mr Abela said: "I feel that Malta did not deserve such a result. While I feel that the decision was unjust, I bow my head to it and we will use it as an opportunity to double our efforts to overcome challenges.”
Shame on the @PL_Malta governments of @RobertAbela_MT & more so his predecessor @JosephMuscat_JM mass resignations should be called for …but they won’t happen #GreyListing #malta #Maltagov #bananarepublic pic.twitter.com/I2KXsNvKS9
— Colin Hamer 🇪🇺🇲🇹🇬🇧marooned on a small island (@Colhamer) June 23, 2021
He pointed to a report by the Council of Europe's expert group, Moneyval, which said Malta was one of the most compliant countries.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said the government hoped to be able to mitigate the effects of the FATF decision "in t
