Malta is making “good progress” in its quest to get off the Financial Action Task Force’s infamous grey list, the head of the global anti-money laundering watchdog has said. 

FATF president Marcus Pleyer was questioned by Lovin Malta at a press conference following an update to its grey list, which saw Botswana and Mauritius removed and Turkey, Jordan and Mali added. 

Malta, which was added to the grey list last June, remains on it.

“Malta has made good progress in its action plan, imposing an increasing number of penalties with dissuasive fines for the filing of incorrect beneficial ownership information and disseminating more financial intelligence to police on tax crimes, leading to more tax-based money laundering investigations,” Pleyer said.

“However, more work remains as none of Malta’s action plans have been largely addressed in the short time since it was listed in June. Good initial steps have been taken and I encourage Malta to continue its improvement and address all items.”