WHY MALTA WILL REMAIN ON THE FATF GREYLIST FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD

 

Who will Fall First ? by COSIMO

A direct quote from someone in Malta who understands the issues that the FATF President framed this week:

"The first is a failure of the Malta Business Registry, which notwithstanding the existence of a Register of Beneficial Owners, seems to have failed to verify the quality of the information at hand. The second is a failure of the FIAU and our Commissioner for Revenue, where enforcement is lax, and often subject to amnesty at the expense of honest taxpayers. The third is both the failure of FIAU and our courts, where they do not prosecute or take action, especially in the light of high profile Maltese PEPs. This is indicative  of complete systemic institutional failure, and a collapse in the Rule of Law, where criminals have gotten away for far too long. Complete institutional failure, by design and incompetence. Unfortunately, it is the rest of us that have to pay the piper. Several heads should have rolled a long time ago, but we are still waiting for some accountability and increased transparency. "

Remember, the President of FATF cautioned that "more work remains, as none of the points on Malta's Action Plan have been largely addressed, in the short time since the country's Greylisting." Don't expect miracles in these new stories about Malta's "progress." It's all bloody PL propaganda. In truth and in fact, the issues above are not being resolved. Malta will remain in FATF Purgatory until they are.