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WATCH: It’s Not A Question Of Blackmail In Return For Financial Test Pass, Finance Minister Pledges

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Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has said Malta’s situation heading into Wednesday’s crucial vote by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is not one where it will accept some kind of blackmail by nations in return for avoiding the grey list.

“Rather than an element of horse-trading, one must see whether what is being asked of us is reasonable or not,” Caruana told the press today, shortly after traveling to Germany for talks aimed at ensuring Malta is not grey-listed.

“We’re not going to offer certain things Malta has on a silver platter so that everything can take them, like some kind of blackmail. It’s absolutely not the case.”

Since failing a Moneyval review in 2019, Malta has introduced a raft of reforms to combat financial crime, such as significantly beefing up its police resources, splitting the Attorney General’s role into two, and introducing a €10,000 cash limit on transactions of valuable goods.

Although it passed a Moneyval test last month, some countries within the FATF still intend to grey-list the island. Lovin Malta is informed that these countries include the USA, the UK and Germany, three global heavyweights.

“Caruana said Malta’s main challenge over the next 48 hours is convincing skeptical nations that the country’s reforms were carried out in good faith. 

“It’s about convincing countries till the end that what we’re doing is in good faith and that the rhythm we embarked upon over the past year and a half will continue in the coming months. If we pass the exam, we’re not going to act as though it never happened, far from it.”

“Malta will maintain its commitment of the past year and a half to safeguard our reputation in the coming months and years.”

Do you think Malta will pass the FATF test? 

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Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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